Voting materials for the upcoming presidential election will not be provided to a district in the southern province of Kandahar because of security threats, officials at the Independent Election Commission (IEC) confirmed on Wednesday.

Emal Abdullah, head of the IEC, stated that the polling will take place in 15 other districts, but “the election material has been transferred to all districts expect Maroof.”

Gen. Zalmay Nabard, commander of the 205 Atal Military Corps in Kandahar, stated that security preparations have taken place for the upcoming election.

“We will eliminate any threats and we have a very solid plan for protecting Kandahar city and the provincial districts,” Gen. Nabard responded.

The provincial governor, Hayatullah Hayat, demanded that the government organization remain neutral, saying, “No government officials have the right to interfere in the election, and if anyone meddles in the province we will act according to the law.”

The residents of Kandahar have urged the government to provide security during the election day.

“If there is no security during election day, the people will not be able to vote,” said Abdullah, a resident of Kandahar.

Farida Ahmadi, an activist for women rights, said: “There are threats now, and the enemy will not let people vote. There are also concerns that incidents will happen during the voting day.”

A Ministry of Interior spokesperson on Sunday stated that over 72,000 security personnel have been deployed to provide security for over 4,000 polling booths across the nation.