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Violence Shakes Afghans' Security Ahead of Elections.

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Vincent

Byline: Steve Crabtree

Synopsis: As Taliban attacks attempt to sow fear ahead of Saturday's parliamentary elections, Gallup finds that a record-low 13% of Afghans feel safe walking alone in their area at night.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Afghans have been waiting for years to vote for new lawmakers, but security concerns may keep some of them away from the polls this weekend. Adults in the country are currently less likely to feel secure than they have been at any point over the past decade; 13% now say they feel safe walking alone in their area at night, down sharply from 36% in 2016.

Among the biggest concerns facing officials ahead of this Saturday's parliamentary vote are security and low turnout amid a string of Taliban attacks intended to disrupt the elections. Earlier this week, dozens of Afghan police officers were killed in attacks in northern and central Afghanistan. These followed several bombings at campaign events in recent weeks that claimed more than 30 lives, most of them civilians. Additionally, several candidates have been killed by gunmen in targeted attacks, according to Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission.

The current survey of Afghan adults was conducted in July 2018, before these most recent attacks. Even so, the current 13% ties for the lowest figure Gallup has recorded for any country worldwide on this question since 2006; a similar 12% of Venezuelans said they felt safe in 2016.

Further, Afghans' confidence in the country's security services has fallen sharply over the past two years as the Taliban has taken control of more territory and civilian casualties have mounted. Twenty-two percent of Afghans currently say they have confidence in their local police -- down from more than two-thirds (68%) in 2016. Confidence in the country's military...

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