Millions defy Taliban threats as Afghans cast ballots
Reports of violence came in from around Afghanistan as it sought to claw its way back from more than a quarter-century of conflict, but there were no signs of the spectacular attack feared from Taliban militants.
Violence in the days leading up to the vote left 22 dead, including a French commando whose vehicle struck a mine. Elsewhere, three militants and two policemen died and two US troops were wounded.
President Hamid Karzai said: "We are making history. It's the day of self-determination for the Afghan people... today Afghanistan is moving forward."
Some 12.4 million Afghans registered to vote for the lower house of parliament and 34 provincial assemblies. Some 5,800 candidates - including 582 women - ran. A quarter of the seats being voted on were reserved for women.
The more than 6,000 polling stations were guarded by about 100,000 Afghan police and soldiers and 30,000 foreign troops.
Some eight million Afghans voted in October's presidential elections, and there were hopes of beating this yesterday, but some field officials and election monitors said turnout appeared to be lower than October's.
Counting begins tomorrow, and partial provisional results will be released once 20% of ballots in a province are tallied.
The vote was considered the last formal step toward democracy on a path set out after a US-led force drove the Taliban from power when they refused to hand over al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden following the September 11 attacks.
The Taliban said they would not attack civilians heading to polls but warned them to stay away from areas where militants might attack security forces.
At a Kuchi nomad voting centre east of Kabul, a cameraman saw women handing their ballots to men to fill out as electoral officials failed to intervene. Human Rights Watch said children appeared to vote at one polling station.
Security forces said they had thwarted four bombings, including an attempt to blow up a dam.
