Security forces on alert as Afghans prepare to vote

More than 100,000 Afghan and foreign security forces were on high alert today on the eve of the country’s first direct presidential election after more than two decades of war.

Despite a 24 hour flurry of rocket attacks, fears that Taliban or al-Qaida rebels would launch a massive assault to disrupt voting had not materialised. It was welcome news in a country that faces a massive task in pulling off its first democratic vote.

“Everyone is optimistic that the election will carry forth,” said Lieutenant Commander Ken MacKillop, a spokesman for international peacekeepers.

“We have been working very closely with the Afghan police and army to make sure the security environment in Kabul and throughout the country is as safe as possible.”

Early today, a rocket slammed into a car park near the US embassy and other diplomatic missions in Kabul, causing no damage or casualties.

It was the first attack in the capital since August 28, when a huge car bomb outside a private US security firm killed 10 people – three of them Americans.

Meanwhile, two rockets exploded in the eastern city of Jalalabad today. One hit a house, wounding a young girl and an old man, said Faizan Ul-Haq, a spokesman for the provincial government.

Eight rockets were also fired at the south-eastern city of Qalat overnight, but missed, flying over the city and landing on waste land on its outskirts, police said. No one was hurt.

Security has been a top concern in the lead-up to the election. There have been three assassination attempts on interim leader Hamid Karzai and his political allies, limiting his ability to campaign.

The 9,000-strong NATO-led International Security Assistance Force said it was on high alert ahead of the vote.

Afghanistan’s Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali said that more than 100,000 Afghan soldiers and police, regional militias allied to the government, US troops and international peacekeepers had deployed to protect the vote.