A beautiful photo by jeromestarkey:

Young girls play on a swing in a small park on the banks of the Helmand River in Lashkar Gah, on the eve of the presidential elections. A 15-year-old boy who was killed by a rocket on polling day panned to come here after he had voted less than 500m away.

Looking back at the emerging reports of violence on Election Day, the picture is mixed. The government figures of at least 26 killed is tragic indeed, and there are reports from Kandahar of a retaliation attack by militants against voters (note to election officials: next time, please use UV ink - indelible purple ink is a good idea to mark voters and makes for good photos, but it marks them also to those who wish to do them violence) and from all over Helmand of rocket attacks, such as the one that killed the 15-year-old boy on jeromestarkey’s photo. Yes, the Taliban did another day of untold damage.

But as far as their objectives are concerned, they have failed. Yes, voter intimidation did cut back on participation, and there are allegations of illegitimacy and voter fraud - then again, since when is that unique to Afghanistan? The important point is that the elections happened, and the Taliban’s promised ‘big blast’ that would shake the wasteland adjoining the narrow fertile strip of farmland on the Helmand River’s floodplains  just did not happen.

And that’s something that will confuse the Taliban for quite a bit. They’re on the way out. They can’t even wreck an election.

Update: The murdered boy’s name was Hamidullah. The Times mentions details in its article.

Update to the Update: Even more Jerome Starkey on the subject.

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   A beautiful photo by jeromestarkey:...Looking back at the emerging reports of...

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