Afghan voters went to the polls on Saturday to choose a successor to President Hamid Karzai, disregarding Taliban threats in a landmark election held as US-led forces wind down their long intervention in the country.
Security was tight as polls opened at 7:00 am (0230 GMT) after the Islamists rejected the election as a foreign plot and urged their fighters to attack all and sundry.
Afghanistan’s third presidential election brings an end to 13 years of Karzai led rule who has clung to power since the Taliban were ousted in a US-led invasion in 2001.
Poll security is a major concern following a string of high-profile attacks in the capital Kabul, most recently a suicide bombing at the Interior Ministry on Wednesday that killed six police officers.
Interior Minister Omar Daudzai said all 400,000 of Afghanistan’s police, army and intelligence services were being deployed to ensure security around the country.
