Taliban attacks Kabul airport as presidential

election recount begins

By Erin Cunningham July
17 Object1
KABUL Taliban insurgents staged a predawn attack Thursday on Kabul
International Airport, firing rocket-propelled grenades fro a nearby building and
propting airport officials to close the runway to coercial flights for se!eral hours"
The raid by four gunen, one of the ost bra#en ilitant assaults in recent onths,
cae as election institutions here launched a nationwide recount of $ illion ballots
cast in last onth%s fraud-ridden presidential runoff !ote" The attack underscored
Afghanistan%s ounting political and security woes as foreign troops prepare to
withdraw by the end of the year"
&or weeks, the political crisis steing fro the dispute o!er the results of the 'une
() runoff threatened to destabili#e Afghanistan, with one candidate nearly declaring a
breakaway go!ernent" Afghan security forces continue to battle a stalwart Taliban-
led insurgency in any parts of the country"
*n Thursday, at least a do#en e+plosions and the sound of hea!y gunfire ripped
through the orning cal at around ,-./ a"", sending plues of black soke o!er
the area where the airport facilities are located, about (/ iles fro central Kabul"
The ilitants stored an unfinished residential building roughly a ile fro the
runway, security officials said" &ighter 0ets swooped o!er the city as Afghan forces
fought and e!entually killed the ilitants in a four-hour gun battle"
Also in the capital, the Independent 1lection 2oission 3I124 announced it had
started inspecting !otes fro the 'une () poll, which election officials aditted was
arred by widespread fraud" The U"5"-super!ised audit would take three to four
weeks and in!ol!e hundreds of staffers working (6-hour shifts, I12 chairan Ahad
7usuf 5uristani said Thursday"
Abdullah Abdullah, a forer foreign inister and aide to legendary u0ahideen
coander Ahed 8hah 9assoud, had accused the coission of helping rig the
!ote for his opponent, forer finance inister and :orld Bank e+ecuti!e Ashraf
;hani"
:hen the I12 last week released preliinary results that showed ;hani with )<
percent of the !ote, Abdullah cried foul, and soe of his ost powerful supporters
warned that they ight declare a parallel cabinet" ;hani finished second to Abdullah
in the first round of !oting on April ), but Abdullah fell short of a a0ority,
necessitating the runoff"
Abdullah%s capaign spokesan said ./ ballot bo+es were =sybolically recounted>
Thursday but that the full audit did not iediately start" 5uristani said earlier that
international obser!ers had not yet arri!ed in Kabul to onitor the full recount"
The presidential election was supposed to ark Afghanistan%s first deocratic transfer
of power, a key ilestone after U"8"-backed Afghan forces toppled the Taliban
go!ernent in 6//("
In a last-inute effort to sta!e off the potential collapse of the Afghan state, the :hite
?ouse dispatched 8ecretary of 8tate 'ohn &" Kerry to help resol!e the ipasse"
The two sides reached a !ague agreeent 8aturday that reportedly outlined the
principles of the audit and a ore general fraework for a national consensus
go!ernent following the announceent of the new results" Kerry was instruental
in leading the negotiations"
*fficials fro both capaigns had said earlier this week that there wereinitial
disagreeents o!er whether the I12 or an international institution such as the United
5ations would be in charge of the recount, suggesting that the accord was already in
trouble"
But a senior U"8" official said 9onday that the I12 would technically conduct the
audit, although =it%s being done under the auspices of and the super!ision by the U"5">
The ri!al capaigns had been tasked with noinating a new I12 chief e+ecuti!e under
the deal" But speaking at a news conference Thursday, Abdullah said they had agreed
to appoint two persons fro each side to 0ointly anage the I12"
It would ha!e taken too uch tie to find a person> trusted by both ;hani and
Abdullah to honestly run the audit, Abdullah said"
?e said the two teas aintained a spirit of cooperation" =:hile the audit has begun,
there are serious @uestions about the ipleentation> of the audit, Abdullah said" ?e
did not elaborate, but he said discussions are ongoing and that the two teas are in
=good spirits">
According to one of Abdullah%s two !ice-presidential picks, 9ohaad 9oha@i@, the
candidate with the least !otes following the recount will becoe =chief e+ecuti!e> of
the go!ernent, a post that will e!entually transition to that of prie inister"
8uch an arrangeent would upend Afghanistan%s highly centrali#ed presidential
syste, but it would pa!e the way for a ore e!en distribution of power, U"8" officials
said"
Also Thursday, Taliban ilitants abushed a con!oy of Aresident ?aid Kar#ai%s
presidential palace guard in the eastern pro!ince of Aaktia, wounding four" Kar#ai had
been scheduled to !isit the nearby pro!ince of Aaktika to honor the !ictis of a deadly
car bob that e+ploded there earlier this week"
8ayed 8alahuddin contributed to this report"