Seven thousands Afghan security personnel have been deployed in nine provinces in the north of the country for the presidential and provincial council elections in April, local officials said on Monday.
The Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers were deployed after the Ministry of Defense decided to support local security forces for the security of the elections, commander of 209th ANA Shaheen Corps Zalmay Wesa said
According to Wesa, 5,000 other troops are on alert to in case of any security threats.
“Afghan soldiers have the security responsibility. Our people have always helped and supported our forces," Wesa said. "We need their continued support in such sensitive time."
Afghan soldiers took the security responsibility of the northern Afghanistan from foreign troops in the past a year. Security officials have said that the soldiers are ready to maintain the security and tackle any challenges that come their way.
“We will provide security for the people to go to the polling without any tension,” said Mohammad Ayoub, an Afghan soldier.
“Our brothers and sisters should be able to go to the polling stations without any problem,” another soldier, Mohammad Hafiz added.
The elections is scheduled to take place in twelve days.
Two weeks ago, the Taliban issued a statement warning Afghan citizens not to take part in the April elections or they could suffer the consequences of militant violence planned to disrupt the process.
The Taliban's statement seemed more bent on scaring Afghans from voting than anything else. The insurgents said they would not hold themselves responsible for any loss of life that may result from their attacks on election day.
Security officials recently submitted a report to President Hamid Karzai that assured over 90 percent of polling centers would be open on election day. Just over 400 of the 6,845 total polling stations nationwide are said to be under serious security threat.