Tight security ensured Afghanistan's presidential election was held on Saturday in relative calm, though several small attacks, low turnout and complaints about the voting system heightened fears an unclear result could drive the country into further chaos.
Preliminary results are not expected before Oct. 17and final results not until Nov. 7. If no candidate gets 51% of the vote, asecond round will be held between the two leading candidates.
Taliban fighters attacked several polling stationsacross the country to try to derail the process, but intense security preventedthe large-scale violence of previous polls.
"This election was the healthiest and fairestelection in comparison to the previous elections," said Hawa AlamNuristani, head of country's Independent Election Commission (IEC), after thevoting concluded.
Ten of thousands of Afghans braved the threat of militant attacks and delays at polling booths to vote in the election, a major test of the Western-backed government's ability to protect democracy against Taliban attempts to derail it.
Two policeman and one civilian were killed in mostlysmall-scale Taliban attacks, the defence ministry said, adding 37 people wereinjured.
Tens of thousands of troops were deployed to try toprotect voters and polling stations.
IEC officials did not immediately share the detailson turnout, but Western diplomats in Kabul estimated it was low due to fears ofviolence and delays caused by polling officials.
Voting was extended by two hours, after technicalproblems delayed the opening of some polling stations around the country.
Independent election observers and activists said aslow pace to voting triggered confusion at some polling stations, with longqueues forming outside.
"Ittook the first voter 31 minutes to vote. For subsequent voters it was takingaround five minutes and then it started to streamline to 3 minutes and 30seconds," said Nishank Motwani, an observer stationed in Kabul.
