{"id":5603,"date":"2019-09-29T00:32:21","date_gmt":"2019-09-28T19:32:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/umang.pk\/2019\/09\/in-pictures-afghan-voters-brave-threat-of-violence-to-choose-countrys-president-multimedia\/"},"modified":"2019-09-29T00:32:21","modified_gmt":"2019-09-28T19:32:21","slug":"in-pictures-afghan-voters-brave-threat-of-violence-to-choose-countrys-president-multimedia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/umang.pk\/en_us\/2019\/09\/29\/in-pictures-afghan-voters-brave-threat-of-violence-to-choose-countrys-president-multimedia\/","title":{"rendered":"In pictures: Afghan voters brave threat of violence to choose country’s president – Multimedia"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Taliban fighters attack several polling stations, but intense security prevents large-scale violence.\n <\/p>\n

\n

Strict security ensured that Afghanistan's presidential elections were held on Saturday with relative calm, although several small attacks, low participation and complaints about the voting system raised fears that an unclear result could lead to greater chaos.<\/p>\n

No preliminary results are expected before October 17 and final results until November 7. If no candidate obtains 51 percent of the votes, a second round will take place between the two main candidates.<\/p>\n

The Taliban fighters attacked several polling stations across the country to try to derail the process, but intense security prevented large-scale violence from previous polls.<\/p>\n

"This election was the healthiest and fair election compared to the previous elections," said Hawa Alam Nuristani, head of the country's Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), after the vote was concluded.<\/p>\n

Ten thousands of Afghans challenged the threat of militant attacks and delays at the polling stations to vote in elections, an important test of the ability of the West-backed government to protect democracy against Taliban attempts to derail it.<\/p>\n

Two policemen and a civilian were killed in Taliban attacks mostly on a small scale, the defense ministry said, adding that 37 people were injured.<\/p>\n

Tens of thousands of soldiers were deployed to try to protect voters and polling stations.<\/p>\n

IEC officials did not immediately share the details about participation, but Western diplomats in Kabul estimated that it was low due to fear of violence and delays caused by election officials.<\/p>\n

The vote was extended for two hours, after technical problems delayed the opening of some polling stations throughout the country.<\/p>\n

Independent election observers and activists said a slow pace of voting triggered confusion in some polling stations, with long lines forming outside.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt took 31 minutes for the first voter to vote. For subsequent voters, it took them about five minutes and then began to simplify to 3 minutes and 30 seconds, \u201dsaid Nishank Motwani, an observer stationed in Kabul.<\/p>\n

"The electoral commission staff was terrified and the voters were angry because the line was not moving." <\/p>\n

The men arrive to cast their votes in front of an electoral college in the presidential elections of Jalalabad. – Reuters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
A security force staff checks a man in front of a polling station in Jalalabad. – AFP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
An election commission worker takes a picture of a man before casting his vote in a polling station in the Jalalabad presidential elections. – Reuters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
A woman holds her son while voting at a polling station in Jalalabad. – AFP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Women stand in line to cast their vote at a polling station in Herat. – AFP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Ballots are seen on the table during the presidential elections, at a polling station in Kabul. – AP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
An Afghan policeman casts his vote at a polling station in Kabul. – Reuters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Afghan Sikhs show their inked fingers after casting their votes at a polling station in the city of Jalalabad. – AP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
An official of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) scans a voter's finger with a biometric device at a polling station in Herat. – AFP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Afghan presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani arrives to cast his vote in the presidential elections in Kabul. – Reuters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
In this photograph of the brochure taken and published by the Press Office of the President of Afghanistan, an official of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) scans the face of Afghan president and candidate Ashraf Ghani with a biometric device at a polling station in Kabul. – AFP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
In this photograph, taken and published by the Press Office of the President of Afghanistan, Afghan President and candidate Ashraf Ghani casts his vote at a polling station in Kabul. – AFP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah arrives at a polling station in Kabul. – Reuters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah casts his vote at a polling station in Kabul. – Reuters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Injured men are treated in a hospital after an explosion in Kandahar province. – AFP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
An injured man is treated in a hospital after an explosion when his son touches his feet in Jalalabad. – AFP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
A crane is seen when people vote in the presidential elections in Kabul. – Reuters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
An official of the Independent Electoral Commission of Afghanistan (IEC) empties a ballot box to count the ballots after the closing of the polling stations, in Herat. – AFP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Officials of the Afghanistan Independent Election Commission (IEC) count the ballots after the polling stations were closed, in Mazar-i-Sharif. – AFP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Officials of the Afghan Independent Election Commission (IEC) count the ballots after the polling station was closed, in Mazar-i-Sharif. – AFP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
An Afghan election commission worker prepares ballots to count in Kabul. – Reuters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/pre>\n<\/pre>\n

Source: https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1507908\/in-pictures-afghan-voters-brave-threat-of-violence-to-choose-countrys-president<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Taliban fighters attack several polling stations, but intense security prevents large-scale violence. Strict security ensured that Afghanistan's presidential elections were held on Saturday with relative calm, although several small attacks, low participation and complaints about the voting system raised fears that an unclear result could lead to greater chaos. No preliminary results are expected before […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5604,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[10759],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-multimedia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/umang.pk\/en_us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/umang.pk\/en_us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/umang.pk\/en_us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umang.pk\/en_us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umang.pk\/en_us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5603"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/umang.pk\/en_us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5603\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umang.pk\/en_us\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/umang.pk\/en_us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umang.pk\/en_us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umang.pk\/en_us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}