Election Day in Kandahar
By AKHTAR MOHD
Published: September 27th, 2009
- KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN: On August 20, 2009, millions of Afghans voted in the presidential elections. This man cast his ballot in the polling station in Zahir Shahi High School. Many in Kandahar did not vote due to fear of Taliban reprisals.
- Another scene from the polling station in Zahir Shahi High School.
- An Afghan National Police (ANA) Humvee was parked next to Zahir Shahi High School, in front of the Kandahar Artillery, one of the city's military bases.
- On election day, the Taliban fired 26 rockets against Kandahar city to dissuade people from going to the polling booths. They fired the first rocket around 4:00 a.m. and the last one at 4:00 p.m.
- This polling station was located in District 1, next to the Ahmad Shah Baba Shrine, and in front of the Kharqa Sharifa, the Mosque of the Cloak of the Prophet Mohammad.
- A Taliban rocket slammed in front of this house on election day. A woman was sitting in front of the door enjoying some fresh air when a piece of shrapnel hit her leg. Her neighbors called the police and they came and took her to Mirwais Hospital. The husband of the injured woman asked me not to reveal the location of his house.
- This man is one of the woman's neighbors. He lives in a tent next door.