While many have expressed anxieties about the security challenges facing next spring's elections, security officials of northern Baghlan province on Monday assured that they had were ready with a plan to ensure effective election security in the province.
Asadullah Shirzad, Baghlan Provincial Police Chief, emphasized that the Afghan Local Police (ALP), Afghan National Police (ANP) and the Afghan National Army (ANA) in Baghlan were geared up to provide proper security at voting centers across the province.
"With the help of all the security institutions, we are ready to do our best to provide security at the polling centers so that people can go and vote without any fear," said Shirzad
Mr. Shirzad also called on the residents of the province to help and work with the security forces in providing security for the elections on April 5.
Of the over 1,100 ALP officers stationed across the Pol-e-Khomre, Dande Ghore and other areas of the province, a number expressed confidence in their force's ability to secure polling centers.
"We have the capability to provide security at the polling centers and we are trying our best to improve our capacity in order to protect our citizens," said one ALP officer.
The comments from the security officials came after Gen. Zahir Azimi, Spokesman of the Ministry of Defence (MoD), claimed the Taliban was seeking to derail the security transition process and create hurdles for the upcoming elections.
The Independent Election Commission (IEC) has warned of the troubled security issues could cause for the elections if they are not addressed. The IEC has said that Afghans must feel safe if they are to be expected to register and show up in quantity on April 5 to vote.
While many are still worried about the possibility of fraud and manipulation in the election, with memories of the 2009 election still fresh in their minds, security for the election and the voter registration process has largely been the focus of anxiety for both Afghan and foreign officials. At the moment, a handful of voter registration centers remain unopened due to the lack of security in certain districts around the country.