Kabul: Voters in Afghanistan are casting their ballots in the long delayed parliamentary elections, amid heavy security and threats from the Taliban.
More than 2,500 candidates – including many women – are vying for 250 seats.
But more than 30% of polling stations are shut because of security concerns – 10 candidates have been killed in the lead up to the vote.
Meanwhile voting in Kandahar province has been delayed by a week after the assassination of a top police chief.
Gen Abdul Raziq was shot dead by a rogue bodyguard on Thursday.
The Taliban claimed the attack, which came after a high-level security meeting. US commander Gen Scott Miller narrowly escaped unhurt.
Nearly nine million voters are entitled to cast their ballots as polling stations opened at 07:00 local time (02:30 GMT). The voting is expected to end at 11:30 GMT.
But only about 5,000 polling stations of the initially planned 7,000 will be operational because of security concerns.
The Taliban have urged people to boycott what they call “fake” elections. And Islamic State militants in Afghanistan have followed suit.
About 54,000 members of the security forces have been deployed to try to ensure the elections pass off peacefully.
Preliminary results are expected 20 days after the election, on 10 November.
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