A notorious Taliban commander warned today that Afghans who take part in elections this year will face attack, the first direct threat the guerrillas have issued to the UN-backed polls.
Mullah Dadullah, a top militant commander blamed for ordering the killing of a foreign Red Cross worker last year and for a series of massacres during the Taliban's rule, warned Afghans not to vote in the poll that is supposed to be held in June.
"The people of Afghanistan must not participate in the election," he said. "If they do, they will come under Taliban attack."
Dadullah is one of elusive Taliban supreme leader Mullah Mohammed Omar's most trusted lieutenants and a member of a 10-man leadership council set up last year.
The Taliban threatened late last year to disrupt a Loya Jirga, or Grand Assembly, called to approve a constitution to pave the way for the elections.