Afghans voted in a parliamentary election today despite Taliban attacks that killed at least 10 people, but widely reported voting fraud threatened t undermine the result and the government's credibility.
Voters appeared hesitant to go to polling stations after a series of rocket strikes across the country before polls opened.
The Taliban said on their website after polls closed they had conducted more than 150 attacks.
While fewer than the 272 blamed on the Islamists at last year's presidential poll, the violence was more widespread and reached once stable areas.
In the worst incident, police said the Taliban killed an Afghan soldier and six pro-government militiamen in a raid on a security post near a polling site in northern Baghlan province.
The election was being closely watched in Washington ahead of US President Barack Obama's planned war strategy review in December, which will likely examine the pace and scale of US troop withdrawals after nine years of war.
A flawed poll would also weigh on Mr Obama when his administration faces mid-term Congressional elections in November amid sagging public support for the war, with violence at its worst levels since the Taliban were ousted in 2001.
The trend for the day was set early when a rocket landed near the U.S. embassy and the headquarters of NATO-led forces in Kabul about three hours before polls opened at 7 am.
Independent Election Commission (IEC) chairman Fazl Ahmad Manawi said a tenth of the 5,897 polling centres either did not open or report in by midday, mainly over security fears. The IEC had already decided not to open another 1,019 deemed unsafe.
Irregularities reported before and during the vote included fake voter registration cards, people washing ink off their fingers and attempts to bribe or intimidate voters. Low turnout and widespread fraud would both hurt the poll's credibility.
It will not be clear for several weeks who among the almost 2,500 candidates have won the 249 seats in the wolesi jirga, or lower house of parliament. Early results will not be known until at least October 8th, with final results not due before October. 30th.
Poll observers expect thousands of complaints, which must be lodged within 72 hours and could delay the process further.
Rocket strikes in northern Takhar province and eastern Kunar killed three and wounded nine, officials said. Kunar authorities called in a NATO air strike that killed nine Taliban fighters who attacked a poll site, police said.