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A man working undercover for the BBC news service in Kabul, Afghanistan has found instances of voter fraud involving the sale of voter cards and offers to buy blocks of votes for cash, days ahead of the country’s presidential and provincial council elections 20 August. Some people reportedly have been issued multiple voter cards to enable them to vote several times. President Hamid Karzai is running against 30 other contenders in the election. Late Monday 17 August General Abdul Rashid Dostum arrived in Afghanistan from exile in Turkey to throw his weight behind Karzai, increasing concerns in the US and at the United Nations “that Dostum could return to government. Washington said he may have been responsible for human rights violations” according to Reuters. Western observers are currently saying that Karzai will not achieve the 50 percent vote needed to avoid a run-off.

Insurgent Taliban militants have vowed to disrupt the electoral process, and many parts of the country are inaccessible to government officals. The US military forces in Afghanistan have vowed to ensure security for the elections, but attacks in Kabul and elsewhere on coalition forces have increased over the past few days. Two rockets hit the presidential palace early 18 August, slightly injuring one person. CNN, Reuters, The Times, UK