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Afghan authorities are orchestrating a controversial crackdown on media reports ofTaliban attacks during tomorrow's elections in Afghanistan as part of a last desperate attempt to boost voter turnout.
After a day that saw yet another brazen attack on the Afghan capital, a government spokesmen said local journalists who defied the ban would be put out of business, whilst foreign media would be "kicked out" if they did not respect a decision taken "for national security reasons".
Top level officials from the country's national security council came up with the plan late on Tuesday amid concerns that coverage of attacks would scare voters away from the polls.
President Hamid Karzai, speaking after a ceremony to mark the country's Independence Day, said he hoped "our countrymen, millions of them will come and vote for the country's stability".
But the attack on press freedom has caused consternation among western embassies that are funding Afghanistan's third ever democratic election and has been attacked by the United Nations, which asked for the ban to be lifted.
Abdul Wahid Hashimi, an Afghan journalist who runs a group called Media Watch, said it would also affect public safety.
"People don't just have the right to know about such incidents according to the constitution and the media law – it is also dangerous not to be informed where fighting is going on," he said.
He predicted Taliban efforts to frustrate polling would fail, despite a fresh threat from militants that 20 suicide bombers had been deployed in Kabul preparing for attacks on an election they say is part of the "foreign occupation" of Afghanistan.
A statement on a Taliban website warned that roads across the country would be blocked throughout polling today.
Journalists will struggle to turn a blind eye to attacks as spectacular as the one in Kabul yesterday when three men had a shootout with police in the city's downtown.
Such "swarm attacks", often involving suicide bombers, have been employed with increasing frequency in the country.
A Taliban spokesman claimed the attack for the hardline movement, saying five gunmen, some wearing suicide bombs, were involved. Police said there were three gunmen, not five.
Security in the capital has collapsed in the last week, ending a long period of calm. On Tuesday a suicide car bomber succeeded in killing one foreign soldier and seven civilians on a busy road in Kabul. On Saturday another car bomb detonated outside the front gate of Nato's headquarters in the country.
In the same period, three US troops have been killed in two incidents in southern Afghanistan, bringing to 32 the number of American dead this month.
As well as banning media from reporting attacks, the authorities are all but refusing to publish details of attacks or even answer journalists' questions.
The interior ministry would not take calls from the Guardian to confirm a rocket attack in Kabul.
Kabul police officers and a western security source said there was an unsuccessful rocket attack in the city and a possible grenade attack on an Afghan army office.
Aktar Mohammad, the police chief of district eight, said the rocket landed without exploding. Sayed Abdul Ghafa Sayedzada, the head of Kabul's criminal investigations department, confirmed the attack but denied reports from other police that more rockets prepared for launch were found.
A western security analyst, who cannot be named, said there had been a grenade attack on an army installation. But Sayedzada denied the attack.
The analyst said another "complex attack" involving several insurgents was likely for election day.
The crackdown on Afghanistan's vibrant media, which boasts hundreds of newspapers and dozens of television channels, was the final desperate move by a government determined to do anything possible to boost turnout.
Officials have already made payments to local Taliban commanders in the south – which is the area worst affected by insurgent violence – to observe ceasefires on the day.
And to the horror of democracy groups, 10,000 militiamen have been hired to help with security in some areas, prompting fears they will intimidate voters or even engage in wholesale ballot box stuffing.
If people choose to stay away from polling stations – particularly in the south where the Taliban are strongest – the entire legitimacy of the elections could be stripped away.
The prospect of half the country feeling disenfranchised and led by a president they do not support is alarming enough for foreign diplomats who are anxious for stability in Afghanistan. But Hamid Karzai has the most to lose – most of the sitting president's support comes from the south.
If Karzai's vote is suppressed in the south he may not get more than half the votes, requiring a second round in early October.
阿富汗当局正在对媒体进行有争议的弹压，在明天大选日期间禁止媒体报道阿富汗境内塔利班的攻击，这成了极度需要提升投票人数当局的最后一招。
在又一天针对阿富汗首都的恶性暴力攻击后，一名政府发言人说如果有当地记者违反禁令，将被取消从业资格；同时，如果外国媒不尊重政府“为国家安全的理由”而作出的决定话，将会被“踢出”阿富汗。
国家安全委员会的最高层官员是在周二晚些时候作出如上决定的，他们担心频发的袭击会吓走大选投票者。
卡尔扎伊总统在阿富汗独立日典礼上发表演讲，称他希望“我们的国民，数百万的同胞为了国家的稳定前来投票”。
但是针对媒体自由的弹压震惊了西方使馆人员，而这些国家资助了阿富汗迄今为止的第三次民主选举；这还招致联合国的谴责，要求其放开禁令。
哈什米（Abdul Wahid Hashimi）是一名记者，并运营一个叫做媒体观察（Media Watch）的组织。他表示此举还会妨碍公共安全。
“人们不仅仅依据宪法和媒体法有权知道这些事件——而且不知道战斗发生在何处是危险的，”他说道。
他预计塔利班挫败大选的努力将是无效的，尽管有武装分子最新的威胁称有20名自杀式炸弹袭击者已经部署在喀布尔，准备攻击这个他们表述为“被外国占领”的阿富汗。
塔利班网站的声明警告在大选日全国各地的道路将会被封锁。
记者们要努力视攻击为无物，把昨天发生在喀布尔的攻击当作一出大戏，当时在市中心3人和警察发生枪战。
诸如此类“蜂群攻击”中，通常有自杀式炸弹袭击者。在阿富汗这些人的使用频率正在增高。
一塔利班发言人称这场攻击是为了实现强硬的斗争，说其中还有5名枪手，一些人还身背自杀炸弹。警方表示是3个，而非5人。
首都的安全在上周已经完全崩溃，长期一段时间的安宁已告终结。周二，一自杀式炸弹汽车成功杀死了一外国士兵以及在喀布尔繁忙路段的7个平民。周六，另一起汽车炸弹在北约阿富汗总部正门口引爆。
在同一时间，在阿富汗南方3名美国士兵在2起事件中被杀，使本月美军死亡人数达32名。
除了禁止媒体报道攻击，当局无论如何不肯公布攻击细节，甚至不回答记者的问题。
内政部不接《卫报》打来核实在喀布尔的火箭弹攻击。
喀布尔警察以及一西方安保内部人士透露，市内发生了一起不成功的火箭弹袭击，以及一场可能是针对阿富汗军队办公室的手榴弹攻击。
8区警察总长默罕默德（Aktar Mohammad）说，着地的火箭弹没有爆炸。萨耶撒达（Abdul Ghafa Sayedzada），喀布尔罪案调查部负责人确认了攻击，但否认了其他警察的报告，后者称发现有更多准备中的火箭弹袭击。
一不能透露姓名的西方安全分析人士表示，部队设施遭到了一场手雷攻击。但萨耶撒达予以否认。
该分析人士说可能有另一起涉及数名突击分子的“复杂的攻击”会发生在选举日。
对阿富汗蓬勃的媒体的打压（后者拥有数百张报纸，几十个电视频道），是这个决心不惜一切来提升投票人数的政府所能施展的最后一招。
官员已经付钱给南部当地塔利班指挥官——那里是受暴力袭击最严重的地区——来换取大选日停火。
还有让民主团体感到恐惧的是，1万名武装人员已经受雇帮助维持某些地区的安全；此举让人害怕这些人会胁迫选民，甚至把票箱都打包卖掉。
如果人们选择远离投票站——特别是南部塔利班势力最强的地方——大选将完全丧失其合法性。
该国一半人感到被剥夺了权利，再加上一个由他们不支持的人领导阿富汗；这样的预期对于渴望看到一个安定阿富汗的外国外交官来说是令人震惊的。但是卡尔扎伊才是最大的输家——现任总统支持者大多数来自南方。
如果卡尔扎伊的选票在南方被压制，他可能拿不到超过半数的选票，在10月需要进行第二轮选举。
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发表于 2016-8-12 16:29:50