Nervous Afghans to vote after attacks escalate

Western-backed President Hamid Karzai hopes to win by a big enough margin to avert a run-off vote,but his government ordered a media blackout for fear that reporting of the violence could hurt turnout among 17 million voters.

Claims of vote-buying fuel concerns about the credibility of the election,along with rampant corruption and Karzais reliance on fractious warlords who stand accused of rights abuses.

Today,police fought pitched gunbattles with Taliban gunmen who stormed their way into a Kabul bank building,afterwards dragging out the blackened and bloodied bodies of three attackers.

We have killed three of the attackers, Kabul criminal investigation police chief Sayed Abdul Ghafar Sayedzada told AFP. They were Taliban, he said.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the siege,which they called part of a series of attacks designed to sabotage Western-backed moves to install democratic order in one of the worlds most lawless nations.

Yesterday,a Taliban suicide car bomb targeted a NATO convoy,killing 10 Afghans and a NATO soldier in the capital,just two days after another suicide bombing targeted the alliances main Kabul compound.

The attacks have stoked fears of Afghans about whether it is safe to go out to vote despite the authorities reassurances and an intensified anti-insurgency offensive by US and allied forces.

It (security) is of concern but to get free of this situation,we must cast our vote, said a 25-year-old Kabul woman employed by an international company who gave her name only as Massouda.

But others said the risks were not worth it.

A tense government threatened to expel foreign journalists who violate a ban — ordered in the national interest — on reporting attacks during elections and vowed to close any local media outlet that does the same.

This is an extraordinary situation… (If they violate the ban) local agencies will be closed and international journalists will be kicked out, foreign ministry spokesman Ahmad Zahir Faqiri told AFP.

Human rights groups,journalists,the US embassy and United Nations levelled heavy criticism against the government over the attempted ban.

The original statement in local language Dari amounted to an outright prohibition of reporting any violence,but the English translation requested the media to refrain from such coverage.

Seventeen million Afghans have registered to elect a president Thursday for only the second time in history and 420 councillors in 34 provinces across the largely rural and impoverished country.

It is a difficult process in a country where more than 70 percent of people are illiterate,and bound into fierce tribal and religious allegiances.

Voting centres are due to open at 7:00 am (0800 IST) tomorrow,but it was still unclear how many sites would be operational despite the deployment of 300,000 Afghan and foreign troops to protect voting.

While Karzai has been tipped to hold on to power,an energetic campaign by ex-foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah has boosted the chance of a run-off that election authorities say would take place six weeks down the line.

Security threats and harsh terrain prevented distribution of some ballot papers and boxes,and the number of polling stations was still unclear.

Two electoral workers were killed in a roadside bomb attack in the Taliban heartland of southern Afghanistan,where a US soldier became the fourth NATO soldier to die in violence yesterday. (AFP) DEP 08191914 DELHI ARMY Army changes promotion policy for Maj Gens,Lt Gens New Delhi,Aug 19 (PTI) The Army has changed the promotion policy for Major Generals and Lieutenant Generals by categorising them into staff and command streams in the backdrop of Ajai Vikram Singh Committee (AVSC) report.

The new policy envisaged giving senior officers from staff stream only administrative duties,while the command stream officers would get to head operational formations,Army sources said here today.

The policy,they said,had come into effect from January one this year after Phase II of the AVSC report was implemented last year.

The AVSC report recommended creating new posts of 75 Major Generals and 20 Lieutenant Generals in the Army.

Under the new policy,senior rank officers would get promoted into two distinct staff and command posts,but would get no opportunity change streams while moving up the ladder.

Also,the promoted officer would be allotted a stream on a pro-rata basis keeping in view the availability of staff and command posts at any given point of time.

This,in effect,would mean that once a Major General was placed in staff stream,he would get no opportunity to command an operational formation of the Army.

The new policy has been in discussion at the Army Commanders Conferences for the last two years and came into effect from January one this year, sources said.

Asked if there was any opposition from senior ranks as the policy could deny opportunity for deserving officers,the Army headquarters vehemently denied any such dissent,be it oral or written,from any quarter.ARMY 2 As per the new policy,first mooted by General K Sundarji when he was army chief in late 1980s,a Major General,once selected into staff stream,would take up posts such as Chiefs of Staff of a Corps or a Command Headquarters,or head an Area Headquarters,which are all administrative posts.

On the other hand,a Major General from the Command stream would head operational formations such as a Division and once promoted as Lieutenant Generals,would command a Corps and get the opportunity to become Army Commanders and Vice Chief.

The Army currently has about 40 operational Divisions and six Commands — Udhampur-based Northern,Pune-based Southern,Kolkata-based Eastern,Chandimandir-based Western,Jaipur-based South-Western and Shimla-based Training Commands.

The policy was implemented first for 15 Major Generals,who were promoted to Lieutenant General rank in January this year.

The Army headquarters then sent the selected officers in two seperate lists of 10 for command stream and five for staff stream to the Defence Ministry for final clearance,sources said.

The existing system of promotion to senior ranks was based on a merit ranking system taking into account the annual confidential report (ACR),which included parameters such as courses attended,commands held,and awards received.