KABUL - Several foreign election observers were pulled out of Afghanistan following a deadly Taliban attack on Kabul Serena Hotel (KSH) last week.

The foreign election observers belonged to the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

A senior European diplomat said the election observers of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) had been withdrawn to Turkey.

Kathy Gest, public affairs director at National Democratic Institute (NDI) said the election observers were staying in Serena hotel in Kabul city.

International monitoring mission from the European Union is the only major one to remain in Afghanistan for observing the upcoming elections.

In the meantime, an official from the largest Afghan monitoring group – Free and Fair Election Foundation of Afghanistan said the presence of international observers in the election is important and withdrawal of foreign observers from the country is a bad news.

The presidential and provincial council elections of Afghanistan are scheduled to be organized on 5 April, which would mark the first democratic transfer of power in Afghanistan.

Withdrawal of foreign election observers will likely undermine confidence in the outcome of the elections as there are fears of widespread fraud in next month’s elections. (Khaama press)