Ten days after the formal launching of election campaigns in Afghanistan, several Presidential Nominees have voiced their concerns on the worsening security threats in the country.

The campaigns started just 10 days ago and will last till the 18th of August. On 20th of August Afghanistan will witness its only second democratic Presidential and Provincial Councils’ elections.

In these elections a mass of Presidential hopefuls accounting to 39 men and 2 women will contest for the top slot of the Islamic Republic. On the other hand, over 3324 candidates will race against each other for the country’s 34 provinces’ councils.

Several candidates have expressed their concerns on the current security situation of the country terming it as one of the major challenges and obstacles hindering them from establishing contacts with the voters. While some report of security threats to their traveling around the country.

Ahmad Ghani Ahmadzai, one of the three top contenders the other two being President Hamid Karzai and ex-foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah, said, “I myself haven’t been threatened but yes, my campaigners have indeed received threats. You know a young boy campaigning for me in Kandahar got beaten by the government officials (police) and till now the officials haven’t followed its outcome.”

Abdul Karim Hashimi, an official of the election office of Mirwais Yaseeni, another Presidential candidate also expressed his concern over the worsening situation calling it harmful for democracy in Afghanistan. He maintained that such threats will reduce the number of voters and the elections won’t be as fruitful as it should be.

Yet, other candidates fear traveling to far flung areas and remote parts of the country for the sake of running election campaigns would be too risky.

Discarding all such worries the spokesperson of the interior ministry, Ezmaray Bashary maintained that the government strongly stands by its promise to provide foolproof security arrangements for the elections to go smoothly in the country. He further elaborated that since the inception of election campaigns ten days ago, the interior ministry has adopted an extensive security plan to make sure everything goes will during the election campaigns and during the elections.