Afghans head to the polls amid tight security to vote for their next president following a bloody, two-month election campaign
Afghan policemen keep watch as other carry election material to polling stations which are not accessible by road, in Shutul, Panjshir province, Afghanistan September 27, 2019.
Wary authorities have placed an uneasy Kabul under partial lockdown, banning trucks from entering the city in an effort to stop would-be suicide bombers attacking the electoral process. Some 9.6 million Afghans are registered to vote, but many have lost any hope that after 18 years of war any leader can unify the fractious country and improve basic living conditions, boost the stagnating economy or bolster security.
Both claimed victory in the 2014 election -- a vote so tainted by fraud and violence that it led to a constitutional crisis and forced then-US president Barack Obama to push for a compromise that saw Abdullah awarded the subordinate role.
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