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Afghanistan elections
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The voting began at 7:00 a.m. local time and would continue until 04:00 p.m., with the possibility of extension.
People of Afghanistan began voting Thursday morning amid tight security to elect the country's president and 420 members of the provincial councils.
Some 17 million Afghans are eligible to vote while the turnout is expected to be lower than in 2004 as security situation is getting worse in most areas of the country.
In the capital city Kabul and other provinces, people are standing in queues casting their votes in favor of their candidates.
There are 6,500 voting centers and some 29,000 polling booths throughout the country, but hundreds of polling stations are expected to be closed down due to security reasons.
Eight of Afghanistan's 364 districts remain wholly under Taliban control and will not be able to hold elections, according to Interior Minister Mohammad Hanif Atmar.
Taliban militant have threatened to disrupt the election while over 200,000 Afghan and the NATO-led international forces have been assigned to ensure security for the process.
In the latest incident Thursday, rocket attack carried out by Taliban insurgents in Yaqubi district of Khost province in east Afghanistan killed one civilian and injured two children, a local official said.
"The rocket fired by rebels hit a residential house in Yaqubi district this morning killing one civilian and wounding two others both children," head of health department in the province Amir Badshah Mangal told Xinhua.
Earlier in the day, police in Kabul killed two suspected suicide bombers in eight district, a police officer said.
"Three suicide bombers took position in a building and attempted to target police station in 8th precinct but police shot them dead before going to action killing two of them," a police officer at the site of the incident told Xinhua but he refused to be identified.
Meantime, Taliban purported spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid in talks with media via telephone from an undisclosed location claimed responsibility, adding the militants were fighting with police.
Taliban fighters who have vowed to derail the voting process have carried out several rockets and bomb attacks in parts of the country including their birthplace Kandahar.
Rocket attacks earlier killed four security personnel in Ghormach district of northwest Faryab province Thursday morning while four rockets attacked Kandahar but caused no loss of life.
Moreover, skirmishes and militants activities claimed the life of police district chief in northern Baghlan province while two insurgents have been killed in Imam Sahib district of Kunduz province.
A latest poll showed that Karzai enjoyed 44 percent votes while his main rival Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, former Foreign Minister with Karzai government, got 26 percent.
The Afghan Election Commission said initial result of presidential election would be announced 48 hours after the vote ends while preliminary result would be announced on Sept. 3 and official result will be finalized on Sept. 17.
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