Afghans have defied the Taliban and have commenced voting today in a second-round presidential election as US-led combat troops wind down a 13-year war that has failed to defeat the insurgents.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for two rockets that exploded near Kabul airport as polls opened, but Afghan and NATO officials said there were no casualties.
The run-off election will decide whether former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah or ex-World Bank economist Ashraf Ghani will lead the country into a new era of declining international military and civilian assistance.
President Hamid Karzai is due to step down after ruling the country since 2001 when a US-led offensive ousted the austere Taliban regime for sheltering Al-Qaeda militants behind the 9/11 attacks.
“We are very proud to be choosing our favourite candidate,” Karzai said after voting. “Today Afghanistan goes from a transition period toward long-lasting peace and stability.”
On Saturday, they said their fighters had attacked polling stations around the country, but Afghan officials did not confirm the claims.
Recent weeks have been relatively peaceful except for a suicide blast targeting Abdullah in Kabul last week that left 12 dead.
Ahead of the vote, police and soldiers searched almost every car on the roads of the capital, and Afghan officials expressed confidence in the security forces, which the US-led military coalition has trained.
Interior minister Omar Daudzai said, “The level of threats is higher compared to the first round, but we have gained far more experience. “
Ethnic friction is also a concern as Abdullah’s support is based among the Tajik minority and other northern tribes. At the same time, Ghani is a Pashtun — Afghanistan’s largest ethnic group, which is strongest in the Taliban heartlands of the south and east.
Karzai is constitutionally barred from a third term in office. His relationship with the US has turned increasingly acrimonious, and the next president is likely to reset ties by signing a long-delayed pact for some US troops to remain on a training and counter-terrorism mission after this year.
Last month, President Obama said that if the pact was signed, 9,800 of the 32,000-strong US deployment would stay in 2015, with just a few thousand remaining into 2016.
The US-led NATO military mission said it would be in a “support role” on Saturday, ready to assist if Afghan authorities requested it.
The coalition has suffered about 3,450 fatalities since operations began in late 2001.
Priorities for the incoming president will be to stabilise the faltering economy as aid funding falls and a fresh attempt to bring peace after decades of war by exploring peace talks with the Taliban.
