Insurgents determined to derail Afghan run-off: US general

Taliban insurgents will redouble their efforts to disrupt presidential elections in Afghanistan next month after failing to sabotage the first round of voting in April, a senior US general said today.
"I think the enemy is going to make a push on run-off day," said Major General Stephen Townsend, commander of NATO-led forces in eastern Afghanistan.
The first round of voting on April 5 went ahead without major violence and with a significant turnout, despite efforts by Taliban and affiliated militants to sabotage the election, Townsend told AFP in an interview.
"The enemy knows he lost," he said.
But the run-off on June 14 will offer the insurgency another chance to undermine the government and the electoral process, putting Afghan national security forces (ANSF) to the test, the general said.

"The ANSF will have to step up," he said.

Afghan army and police are now leading the fight against the Taliban as international troops withdraw from the country in December after more than a decade of war.
For the April 5 polls, US and coalition troops mostly stayed on their bases and kept a low-profile, leaving it to Afghan forces to oversee security while providing intelligence and logistical support.
A similar approach is planned for the June run-off and the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) will take a similar approach in the east, Townsend said.
Taliban leaders were frustrated that the April vote went forward relatively peacefully and are believed to have carried out a review of how their fighters performed, according to the general.

"They sent inspection teams in," and some commanders have been removed in a sign of the leadership's dissatisfaction, he said.
If the insurgents manage to disrupt the run-off vote in June, that could "erase" the success of the April 5 election, Townsend said.
But the American general said he believed Afghan forces were up to the challenge.
"They're going to have to perform the same, probably better (than before), against a more determined enemy. Or they'll fail in the eyes of their people and in the eyes of the world.
"I don't think they'll fail," he said.