KABUL, Sep 15 (AFP) - The US-led coalition and NATO peacekeepers will increase military activities in Afghanistan to secure the war-torn country's presidential elections due in October, military officials said Wednesday.
"You will have likely noticed an increase in air activity over the Kabul area of operation," NATO spokesman Lieutenant Commander Ken MacKillop told a news briefing in the Afghan capital, Kabul.
"This activity will continue as ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) in association with our Afghan security partners here, raise our security measures during this pre-elections period," he said.
"As the most important event in recent Afghan political history, the electoral process is unfortunately the natural target for those who wish to sow fear," he added.
Afghans will elect a president on October 9, but the Taliban militias who were ousted in late 2001 have threatened to derail the vote, the first poll of its kind in the history of Afghanistan.
The 8,000-strong ISAF multinational force, under the command of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), are in Kabul and some northern provinces helping with security, while more than 18,500 US-led soldiers are hunting militants in south and southeastern parts of the war-shattered country.
"What the ISAF is doing to secure the election (in Kabul and north), the coalition will do the same across the country," US-led coalition spokesman, Major Scott Nelson said.
"We will be much more aggressive in our security operations, once we are near to the elections a lot more operations will be ongoing," he said. "You will see more conflict problems because the Taliban ... will try to move to engage some of the voter registration areas,"
Nelson did not provide any further information on the operations, citing security reasons, but said that ISAF, the coalition and the Afghan military forces were ready to engage Taliban militants during the elections.
"Forecasting operations probably is not the smartest thing to do ... but I will tell you that ... strict, aggressive actions will be ongoing to secure the elections," he added.
Nelson said that the Taliban, which opposes the US-backed government of Afghanistan, will carry out more attacks during the polls.
"I think the Taliban will be more dangerous in the next couple of months," he said.
Nearly three years after the fall of the fundamentalist Taliban regime, the remnants of the militia are still able to attack troops, mainly along the porous border with Pakistan.
On Monday Taliban-led militants fired four rockets at a coalition military outpost in northeastern Kunar province but caused no casualties.
Along with incumbent Hamid Karzai, 18 Afghans, including a woman, will contest in the landmark polls, sponsored by United Nations.
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Received by NewsEdge Insight: 09/15/2004 05:33:28
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