KABUL – Afghans braved the threat of militant attacks and delays at polling booths to vote in a presidential election, a major test of the Western-backed government despite Taliban attempts to derail the polls.
Over 9-million registered voters were heading to elections on Saturday amid attacks in several cities.
The hardline group, which controls more of the country since its regime was toppled in 2001, threatened voters to stay away from the election or face dire consequences.
Around 9.6 million of Afghanistan’s 34-million people were registered to vote for one of the 14 candidates at around 5,000 polling centers protected by some 100,000 Afghan forces with air support from the United States (US) across 34 provinces.
The hardline Islamist group intensified attacks against the Afghan and foreign forces following the collapse of talks between the US and the Taliban earlier this month.(Reuters)
