Violence disrupts Mali voting

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Attacks by gunmen or other violence disrupted around 20% of Mali’s polling stations during Sunday’s presidential election, with about three percent unable to function at all, the Ministry of Territorial Administration said.

Of the roughly 23,000 polling stations open, 4,632 were disrupted by “armed attacks or other violence”, of which 644 were unable to operate, ministry figures showed.

Spiralling jihadist violence is a key issue in the campaign of several opposition candidates competing with President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, as attacks multiply and the death toll mounts across north and central Mali.

Al Qaeda’s franchise in the Sahara claimed a mortar attack on Aguelhok in the northern region of Kidal during the election.

In that attack, militants fired 10 mortars, one exploding about 100 metres from a polling station, causing voting to be temporarily suspended.

In most of Mali, the vote was peaceful, but the number of disenfranchised voters could become a flash point if the result is close.
“My family told me they couldn’t vote because of insecurity in central Mopti region. Things didn’t go well,” said Issamadou Sagra, who is from Koro, in the Mopti region, but lives and voted in Bamako.
“We are worried about the final results … they might not be reliable.”

Counting is underway but results may not come out for another day or even longer. Candidates are forbidden from making announcements before the official tally is collated centrally in Bamako.

The party of Keita’s main challenger Soumaila Cisse complained about voting being disrupted because of insecurity and pressed government to release a list of the places with problems.