The Taliban have appealed to the people of Afghanistan to boycott the presidential election on 20 August. In a written statement the Taliban also announces they will sabotage the voting by blockading the roads to the polling stations.

The forthcoming elections are only the second in Afghanistan's history. The incumbent president Hamid Karzai looks likely to be re-elected.
 

Last week the Afghan government revealed that it had made a deal with the Taliban in Badghis province that they would not try to disrupt the election. Observers point out that the Taliban are not particularly active in that region.