- Title: Voting for Afghanistan's presidential election begins
- Date: 28th September 2019
- Summary: ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** VOTER BEHIND BALLOT BOOTH VOTER CASTING VOTE
- Embargoed: 12th October 2019 06:05
- Keywords: presidential election security Ashraf Ghani Abdullah Abdullah Taliban
- Location: KABUL,AFGHANISTAN
- City: KABUL,AFGHANISTAN
- Country: Afghanistan
- Topics: Government/Politics,Elections/Voting,Editors' Choice
- Reuters ID: LVA003AYKL83R
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Afghan voters went to the polls on Saturday (September 28) to choose a new leader with incumbent president Ashraf Ghani widely expected to win a second five-year term.
But there are concerns his re-election could deepen political instability, embolden the Taliban and set back efforts to get stalled peace talks back on track.
As voting got underway explosions hit Kabul as well as the Afghan cities of Ghazni and Jalalabad and Kandahar.
Over 9 million Afghans registered to vote amid fears of violence and fraud. Tens of thousands of Afghan forces were deployed across 34 provinces to protect voters and polling stations from Taliban attacks.
The hardline insurgent group has threatened voters to stay away from the election or face dire consequences.
(Production: Mohammad Akram, Hameed Frazad, Sayed Hassib, Masako Iijima) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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