Violence unsettling Afghan vote

"People are being cautious, because it's unclear who is going to win," says Wilder.

In the past few months, there has been an increase in attacks against aid workers, particularly against those involved in elections. This spring, in the eastern province of Nooristan, two British security consultants with Global Risk and an Afghan employee were gunned down while arranging security for upcoming voter registration campaigns. Last week, five aid workers with Médecins Sans Frontières were shot in their car in the northwestern province of Badghis. The growing perception of insecurity could make it more difficult to persuade election officials and ordinary voters alike to risk their lives in an uncertain election process.

Adding to the uncertainty are the recent increase in "night letters," containing threats against anyone who works for the government, for US forces, for the United Nations, and especially for the election process.

One recent letter in the central province of Wardak made direct threats against women election workers for the United Nations Assistance Mission for Afghanistan (UNAMA).

"Those women's centers set up with the support of UNAMA are providing a facility for sexual relationships for [members of] UNAMA," the night letter written in broken Pashtu read. "They [the women in the centers] should stop their activities; otherwise they should be ready for death."

Khost provincial election chief, Pir Syed Shah, says that these night letters will have little effect on people. "It's very common that, if there are supporters for something, there will also be opponents," he says. "Our enemies are not asleep. There are leaflets all the time, but we have hundreds of staff workers, and not one of them has left their jobs because of these threats."

Gen. Mohammad Nawab, deputy military commander for Khost province, has also received similar night letters in Khost and surrounding districts. But he says the Afghan voters and election workers won't be affected by them.

"People are not afraid of these things," says General Nawab. "The enemy is not able to fight us or the Americans directly, so they do these things, or they might put a land mine on the road. I'm sure that we'll have 90 percent security for the elections and registration will be done very well; 10 percent maybe you'll find land mines and people shooting rockets."

At their home in Khost, which has 24-hour armed guards, Sahera Sharif and her family try to adjust to their new lives. Sahera's husband, Mohammad Sharif - also a university professor - says he is proud of his wife for continuing her work. He worries about her, however, particularly in a society where traditions of propriety and Islamic behavior have been destroyed by war and manipulated by radical Islamists such as the Taliban.

But Sahera remains optimistic. "Inshallah [God willing], we can make a difference."

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