The Guardian today reports that the jihadists, predictably enough, are doing all they can to disrupt the Afghan elections:
Radical Islamist propaganda calling on Afghans to join a global jihad against “oil-thieving Christian crusaders” has begun appearing in Afghanistan, signalling an attempt by foreign militants to stoke an Iraqi-style insurgency.
A glossy colour poster juxtaposes photos of charred American corpses swinging from a bridge in Falluja with that of a US soldier apparently frisking a burka-wearing Afghan woman.
A DVD links gory footage of Taliban operations in Afghanistan, violence in Indonesia and the beheading of American businessman Nicholas Berg in Baghdad.
The propaganda has been discreetly distributed in the run-up to today’s presidential election, which pits the US-supported interim president Hamid Karzai against 15 challengers.
“This is a significant migration of tactics. I’ve never seen quality material with an international outlook like this before,” said Nick Downie, a British security adviser to international aid agencies. “It’s a call to global jihad.”
US, coalition and Afghan troops were on high alert yesterday for possible attacks by Taliban insurgents, who have vowed to derail the historic vote.