Election observers pull foreign staff out of Afghanistan after hotel attack

A general view of the Serena Hotel in Kabul March 21, 2014, a day after it was attacked by gunmen. REUTERS/Mohammad Ismail

KABUL (Reuters) - Two major foreign election observer and support missions have pulled staff out of Afghanistan after a Taliban attack on a Kabul hotel, observers said on Sunday, in a move which could undermine confidence in the outcome of the crucial vote.

The April 5 vote is less than two weeks away and could mark the country's first democratic transfer of power. Many fear a repeat of the widespread fraud that discredited the poll in 2009 when about 20 percent of votes were thrown out.