Afghanistan braced for violence as polls open

Afghans go to the polls today in the shadow of Taliban threats to choose a new president for a nation plagued by armed uprising, drugs, corruption and a feeble government.

Turnout, particularly in the violent south, will be key to the vote's success - the country's second direct presidential election.

Taliban militants have pledged to disrupt the vote and circulated threats that those who cast ballots would be punished.

Early indications in Kabul pointed to a low initial turnout, perhaps as people assessed whether casting ballots was safe.

"Yes, we are going to vote," Abdul Rahman, 35, said as he stood 50 yards outside one polling centre. He and his friends were waiting to see a line of people voted safely before casting ballots.

"If anything happens to the polling centre, we don't want to be too close to it," he said.

International officials have predicted an imperfect election, but expressed hope that Afghans would accept it as legitimate - a key component of US president Barack Obama's war strategy.

At a school in eastern Kabul, election workers were ready at 7am, but no-one was there. A 30-year-old shopkeeper whose store was about 100 yards away said he did not see the point.

"I am not voting. It won't change anything in our country," said Mohammad Tahir.

A reporter in Kandahar, the south's largest city and the Taliban's spiritual birthplace, also said he saw few voters.

Helicopters circled overhead in the capital as police manned extra checkpoints. In one northern Kabul neighbourhood, a car with loudspeakers encouraged people to vote.

President Hamid Karzai, wearing his traditional purple and green striped robe, voted at 7am. He dipped a finger in indelible ink - a fraud prevention measure - and held it up for the cameras.

"I request from the Afghan people to come out and vote so through their vote Afghanistan will be more secure, more peaceful," Mr Karzai said. "Vote. No violence."

Mr Karzai, who has held power since the Taliban was ousted eight years ago, is favoured to finish first among 36 official candidates, although a late surge by former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah could force a run-off if no-one wins more than 50%.

Preliminary results were expected to be announced in Kabul on Saturday.

Violence has risen sharply in Afghanistan the last three years and the US now has more than 60,000 forces in the country close to eight years after the US-led invasion following the September 11 attacks of 2001.

On the eve of the balloting, the US military announced the deaths of six more Americans - putting August on track to become the deadliest month for American forces since the war began.

Mr Karzai, a favourite of the Bush administration, won in 2004 with 55.4% of the vote, riding into office on a wave of public optimism after decades of war and ruinous Taliban rule.

However, as the US shifted resources to the war in Iraq, Afghanistan fell into steep decline, marked by record opium poppy harvests, deepening government corruption and skyrocketing violence.

Faced with growing public discontent, Mr Karzai has sought to ensure his re-election by striking alliances with regional power brokers.

He named as a running-mate a Tajik strongman whom he once sacked as defence minister and welcoming home notorious Uzbek warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum, allegedly responsible in the deaths of up to 2,000 Taliban prisoners early in the Afghan war.

Those figures are believed capable of delivering millions of votes among their followers, but their presence in the Karzai inner circle has raised fears in Western capitals that the president will be unable to fulfil promises to fight corruption in a second term.

Voter turnout - especially in the insurgency-plagued Pashtun south - is likely to be crucial not only to Mr Karzai's chances but also to public acceptance of the results.

Mr Karzai is widely expected to run strong among his fellow Pashtuns, the country's largest ethnic group which also forms the overwhelming majority of the Taliban.

Mr Abdullah, son of a Pashtun father and a Tajik mother, is expected to win much of his votes in the Tajik north, where security is better and turnout likely to be bigger.

Mr Abdullah, an ophthalmologist who has railed against government corruption, was a member of the US-backed alliance that overthrew the Taliban in 2001 and would be expected to maintain close ties with the West.

But one fear is that Mr Abdullah's followers may cry fraud and take to the streets if Mr Karzai claims a first-round victory without a strong southern turnout.

The country has been rife with rumours of ballot stuffing, bogus registrations and trafficking in registration cards on behalf of Mr Karzai, allegations his campaign has denied.

Scattered reports of minor violence trickled in from around the country, including a rocket that landed near voters in Helmand and an explosion at a voting site in Kabul. Security companies in the capital reported at least five explosions.

An Associated Press reporter in southern Helmand province said a rocket landed near voters in the capital of Lashkar Gah, killing one young child. A blast at a high school in Kabul serving as a polling centre wounded an election monitor and briefly shut down voting, an election observer named Ezatullah said.

A bomb in Kabul ripped through a police checkpoint but injured no one, a reporter at the scene said.

Fearing that violence may dampen turnout, the foreign ministry asked news organisations to avoid "broadcasting any incidence of violence" during voting hours "to ensure the wide participation of the Afghan people". Due to that order, Afghan officials were reluctant to confirm violence reports.