A U.S. Air Force KC-10 Extender tanker from the 908th Expeditionary Aerial Refueling Squadron refuels an F-15E Strike Eagle from the 391st Expeditionary Fighter Squadron over Afghanistan on Dec. 15, 2008. DoD photo by Staff Sgt. Aaron Allmon, U.S. Air Force. (Released)From Yahoo News/Reuters:
KABUL (Reuters) – A troubling north-south security divide could affect the outcome of Afghanistan's presidential election this year, a poll official warned on Monday, with voters still to be registered in some of the most dangerous provinces.
Voter registration in southern Afghanistan, where NATO-led and Afghan forces are struggling against a resurgent Taliban, will start in two weeks. If security does not improve, fewer people in the south would be expected to vote than in the north.
"Because security is better in the central and northern part of the country, turnout most probably will be higher, and turnout in the south, if the security situation has not changed, will be lower," Zekria Barakzai, deputy chief electoral officer at the Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan, told Reuters.
An exact date for the poll has not yet been set.
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