Word: pashtun
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...campaign ahead of the vote forewarned residents that their fingers would be cut off if they dared to participate. Many still braved the threat, but observers suggested that voter turnout there was perhaps as much as 40% lower than 2004 elections - a potential setback for President Karzai, an ethnic Pashtun counting on his southern base. (Read a story about the warlord who is key to Karzai's victory...
...threats suppress voter turnout among the Pashtuns of the south, who make up 40% of the population, they could undercut the legitimacy of the election. It would spell trouble for President Hamid Karzai, who is still the favorite, though he is trying to avoid a troublesome runoff with Abdullah Abdullah, the former Foreign Minister and Northern Alliance candidate whose campaign has gained momentum of late. If southern voters stay home in large enough numbers, say analysts, there is a slight but not impossible scenario that northern voters could dictate the election's outcome in favor of Abdullah, further destabilizing...
...expert on Islamist militancy. "But at the same time, they want to keep their identity independent. They don't mix in the structure of the Taliban. They want to avoid any confrontation with them. They want to stay there, use their facilities for training while providing ideological leadership." The Pashtun-dominated Taliban are also unlikely to accept an Arab jihadist as their leader...
...uneducated Pashtun tribesman from a modest clan, Mehsud reportedly came from a family that made their living driving trucks. Though given to boasting about his grand plans for inflicting mass murder, Mehsud was also cautious. He shunned photographers - there are no definitive portraits - traveled in convoys protected by armed guards and hopped between safe houses. Despite his bellicose rhetoric, Mehsud was also described as baby-faced and jocular in person...
...several aides to Ashraf Ghani. But expected violence in the country's south may be of benefit to Abdullah. Election authorities estimate that some 700 out of 7,000 polling stations nationwide will not be able to open on the day of elections due to violence, most in the Pashtun-dominated south where Karzai is favored, possibly depriving him of a first-round victory (if no candidate gets 50% of the vote, elections will go to a runoff a month later). The possible closing of some 10% of the polls has raised fears that the elections will not be perceived...