Taliban insurgents are threatening to target Afghans who vote in thecountry's November 7 presidential runoff. Afghan election officials areworking to improve security while minimizing fraud.
The lead upto Afghanistan's second round of voting is beginning much like thefirst round under the Taliban's threats of violence.
Campaigningofficially began Saturday in the runoff election between incumbentPresident Hamid Karzai and top rival, former Foreign Minister AbdullahAbdullah.
In a statement released Saturday, the Taliban denounced the election as an "American process" and vowed to disrupt it.
Thecountry's Independent Election Commission spokesman Noor Mohammad Noorsays that so far, the preparations are going smoothly.
"Thepreparations for the second round [are] going on," he said. "Until now,we don't have any specific difficulties or challenges, and we are goingto go ahead."
Massive fraud in the August 20 election led officials to call for a runoff.
OnFriday, the U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke, saidhe believes there will be less fraud this time around because only twocandidates will be on the ballot and more international teams will bein place to monitor.
But security is one of the top concerns aselection officials hurry to deliver supplies to polling stations beforethe harsh winter weather cuts off access.
International officials have pledged the services of coalition forces in order to ensure voter safety.
Reportsfrom the first round of voting detailed a number of violent attacks bythe Taliban, including rocket fire and the amputations of ink-stainedfingers on voters' hands.