The National Ministry of Defense (MoD) on Monday announced that 195,000 Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers were deployed in different regions of the country to maintain security for the June 14 runoff.
The National Directorate of Security (NDS) reaffirmed their determination to foil any plot against the election process. Up to 400,000 Afghan security personnel are cooperating and are on alert to provide foolproof security for the elections.
“We assure the nation that we will provide security for the runoff elections at the cost of our lives,” Deputy Commander of Army Regiment 111 of central zone, Gen. Zaheer Wardak, said on Monday.
MoD said that the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) are determined to provide even better security in the runoff elections than in the first round, which was held on April 5, 2014.
“National army soldiers are on alert and will not allow threats to undermine public voting,” MoD Spokesman Gen. Zahir Azimi said.
In addition, the commander of army regiment 111 said that the corps has been assigned the task to take the security responsibility of at least 557 polling centers.
“We have enough force to maintain security during the elections,” Commander of Army Brigade 111, Gen. Qadam Shah Shahim, said. “There is enough force to maintain security in the central zone."
Moreover, the NDS has assured people that the intelligence services are working hard to foil threats posed on the election process.
“Necessary measures are underway for the runoff security; we are on high alert,” NDS Spokesman Haseeb Sediqi said.
The NDS has asked people to contact 1919 in case they face a security threat of surge activities on Election Day. The ANP has also deployed thousands of police personnel including a number of police academy recruits to contribute in the election security.
Meanwhile, the public has expressed its appreciation for the cooperation of the police.
"We are happy with the police,” Kabul resident Ahmad told TOLOnews. "Even the police academy recruits behave well with the public."
Another resident Mohammad Shafee also praised the works of the police.
“We hope that they do as well on the Election Day as they are doing right now,” he said.
Security forces have promised to render any sacrifice to maintain the security of the elections as they hope for a larger turnout than the first round.
Source/Fuente: http://www.tolonews.com/elections2014/afghan-forces-alert-runoff
