By Can Merey, DPA,
Kunduz (Afghanistan) : The German army captain was enjoying supper, turkey breast with rice and vegetables — his last proper meal for the foreseeable future.
He is about to move out with his infantry company from Kunduz, the capital of the northern Afghan province of the same name, and then he and his troops would have to sustain themselves on rations provided by the German army that include shrink-wrapped ravioli, sausage, bread and chocolate.
When he’ll make it back to base, Captain K doesn’t know, but it would most definitely be after Thursday’s presidential election in Afghanistan as the German troops along with Afghan soldiers provide security for the voting.
“Deployments revolve around life and death,” said the captain, who may only be identified by his rank and the initial of his last name because of German army regulations.
One of K’s subordinates, Master Sergeant A, could relay his own tales about how much the security situation has deteriorated recently in Kunduz province, which had been known as a relatively peaceful area in volatile Afghanistan.
The platoon leader, who did a previous deployment in Kunduz last year, has been engaged with his men in five exchanges of fire with insurgents since they arrived four weeks ago.
“The situation has made a 180-degree turnaround from 2008,” Master Sergeant A said. “This is definitely war.”
The insurgents have become better trained and are now much more adept at deploying military tactics, he said.
“They are serious opponents in any scenario,” he said.
Ambushes by the Taliban are now “well-planned” and their “spotters” constantly monitor the movements of troops, reporting to their superiors immediately whenever any vehicles leave the German army’s compound in Kunduz city, he said.
The spotters had much to report that recent evening as the sun went down and about two dozen German army vehicles drove through the gate and down the hill past grazing camels.
The convoy soon reached a position near the provincial capital and set up camp.
The German commander in Kunduz, Colonel Georg Klein, said he expected a further increase in ambushes and attacks ahead of the election even though violent incidents had already reached a level not seen since the Taliban regime was ousted in 2001.
“The situation is out of control,” said Jamal Nasir Farhan, a candidate standing in the provincial council election, to be held the same time as the presidential election.
Campaigning has only been possible within the relatively safe confines of the provincial capital but impossible in the other six districts. One of the 124 council candidates was also recently murdered by the Taliban.
The chief of Kunduz’s election commission, the civil engineer Mohammad Aman, confirmed that all logistical arrangements for the election were in place but expressed deep concerns about potential violence.
“I don’t know if election day will be a good day,” he said. “The only thing we are worried about is the security situation on that day.”
While the voting locations themselves are to be protected by Afghan police, Afghan soldiers are to provide a second security cordon and foreign troops a third.
Five police officers are to man each of the 216 voting locations across the province, but that was too few, Aman said.
To prevent individuals from casting multiple ballots, each voter will have one of their fingernails marked with ink.
But the Taliban has threatened to cut off the fingers of anyone caught with a marked nail.
In a province where some districts are under Taliban control, “nobody there will go to vote if the government cannot deploy more security forces in these areas”, Aman warned.
The Taliban is causing fear to spread across the province. An education official in the Char Darah district, Abdul Bari Haidari, said half of the schoolgirls there are going to classes after recent Taliban threats.
German and Afghan troops recently concluded their largest offensive in the district against the insurgents, but “the operation was ineffective”, Haidari said.
“We are living in fear that the Taliban might return for good,” he said. “We are feeling that the Taliban are coming back.”
Klein, in the meantime, said he hoped the situation would “stabilise after the presidential election”. But this is far from certain.
If none of the presidential candidates wins an absolute majority in Thursday’s voting, a runoff would be held at the beginning of October, which the Taliban most likely would try to disrupt. But nobody in Kunduz wants to think that far into the future at this point.