(For more on Afghanistan, click [ID:nAFPAK] By Jonathon Burch ARGHANDAB, Afghanistan, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Security, not candidates, will determine whether voters in one of Afghanistan's most dangerous districts risk going to the ballot box for next week's disputed presidential run-off vote. The first round in August was marred by fraud and the run-off is also under a cloud, with Afghan President Hamid Karzai's rival, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah, due to announce on Sunday whether he will take part. [ID:nISL151812] If it does go ahead, the Taliban have vowed to disrupt the vote, just as they threatened to do in August's first round. Arghandab is a fertile, scenic river valley bursting with lush pomegranate orchards and grapevines no more than 15 minutes from Kandahar City, the spiritual home of the Afghan Taliban. People come to picnic and pray at a Muslim shrine perched on a hill overlooking the valley and mountains beyond. "I had a voter registration card but I didn't vote. Security was bad. They attacked this area with rockets," Abdul Nafe, 25, said of the first round. "If it is like before, then I won't vote in the second round, said Nafe, who sells snacks and cold drinks to pilgrims. The Taliban first flourished in Kandahar before taking over Afghanistan in 1996. It is an ethnic Pashtun-dominated province and Karzai's homeland, where he enjoys widespread support. But a festering insurgency has derailed efforts by Kabul, backed by Washington, to govern in many of its districts. "TALIBAN COME IN THE NIGHT" Safar Mohammad, 35, says he will vote in the second round, but not in Arghandab. "Security is OK. The government controls this area, but the Taliban come in the night and fire shots or lay mines and then escape again," Mohammad said. "I voted and I will vote again. But I will vote in the city like I did last time," he said. Canada took over military operations in Kandahar from the United States in 2005 but, with only around 2,500 soldiers to cover the whole province, it has struggled to contain Taliban fighters who regrouped then infiltrated back into the city. About 200 Taliban fighters gathered in Arghandab in June 2008, seizing seven villages and threatening the city itself. A fierce battle ensued with NATO-led and Afghan forces, with about 1,000 Afghan soldiers flown in from the north to help. Almost 100 insurgents were killed and NATO and the Afghan government hailed the clash as a success, but it was the second time militants had swooped in from the mountains in the north. A United States army brigade, including four infantry "Stryker" battalions, was sent to Kandahar in July. Two of those Stryker battalions have been conducting clearing operations in the Arghandab valley and setting up small combat outposts to keep the insurgents out. Arghandab is a key district because of its proximity to Kandahar city. The U.S. soldiers have stirred up a hornets' nest, the insurgents fighting back by laying mines and firing rockets at their patrol bases. Last Tuesday, seven U.S. soldiers and their Afghan interpreter were killed by a massive homemade bomb buried in a dry riverbed. On election day in August, insurgents fired six rockets at the Arghandab district centre, which also serves as a makeshift base for U.S. and Afghan troops. The attacks kept many voters away. This time, small shops have been set up for travellers near the foot of the hill on the road leading back to the city. One shopkeeper selling bright red pomegranates nervously said he would vote again -- if there are no attacks. "If there are no rocket attacks and the security is good, I will vote but on the other side of the river there is fighting every day. You can see for yourself," said the shopkeeper, who declined to give his name. (Editing by Golnar Motevalli and Paul Tait)
A Taliban fighter poses with weapons in an undisclosed location in Afghanistan October 30, 2009. The Taliban have called on Afghans to boycott the election run-off and have vowed to disrupt ...
