To disrupt elections, Taliban turn to an old tactic - destroying cell towers

Election workers at a warehouse in the Independent Election Commission compound in Kabul, Afghanistan. Photo / Jim Huylebroek, The New York Times

There are several reasons Afghan officials are struggling to determine how people voted in the presidential election last week - possible fraud, misplaced biometric data and the country's vast geography.

But one factor has complicated the effort more than any other: the Taliban's tactic of destroying cellphone towers.

The destruction of the towers prevented voting officials from communicating with election workers, while instigating fear and intimidation.

The Taliban have sought support in the rural hamlets and towns that harbor militants, even as they fight the government in Kabul. The cellphone tower strategy augments the group's more traditional, and deadly, forms of insurgency. There were scores of attacks on election targets Saturday.

Four days after the vote, officials were still struggling to determine how many people had turned out, although initial figures put the number around 2 million, a historic low.

In the northeastern province of Takhar, Taliban commanders warned cellphone companies that if they did not deactivate their towers, the militant group would destroy them. Several towers were destroyed.

Often, Afghanistan's telecom companies are caught in the middle: threats from the Taliban to shut off their towers, or have their license revoked by the government if they adhere to the militants' demands.

On Tuesday, after days of fighting, deactivated towers were turned back on, and repair teams set out to fix the burned infrastructure.

Service was disabled or limited in several other provinces, and service was intermittent because of Taliban threats Saturday. In Farah, some cell towers remain offline.

As officials tried to restore the cellphone network, the country was also taking stock of the violence that shook the country Saturday.

The Interior Ministry said there had been more than 60 attacks on election targets Saturday, leaving three police officers dead and 37 civilians and two Afghan army soldiers wounded.

Privately, officials acknowledged that the number of attacks was much higher. A New York Times tally put the number of dead at roughly 40 and the wounded at more than 170.

Written by: Thomas Gibbons-Neff and Najim Rahim

Photographs by: Jim Huylebroek

© 2019 THE NEW YORK TIMES