By Gilles Dorronsoro, Afghanistan
I was in Kunduz yesterday. The security there is extremely
problematic -- the road from Kabul
to Kunduz is cut by the Taliban on a daily basis. The last attack in Dashti
archi where the chief police was killed is a huge blow to the security forces.
Groups of fifty Taliban are now operating on a regular basis, instead of ten a
few months ago. The atmosphere is very different from my last trip in April.
The Taliban are immediately near the city during the night and they are very
confident and aggressive.
There is no way to stop the Taliban if they want to attack polling stations and
block the road. There are over 200 polling stations in Kunduz. A low turnout is
to be expected from the Pashtun at least. The security forces are not enough: there
are only a thousand policemen and five hundred Afghan National Army infantry
for one million people in the province. This election is also a moment of truth
concerning the state's ability to control and organize; so far not so good,
even in the north.
Gilles Dorronsoro, currently in Afghanistan, is a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment.
