Home
Discover Islam
Quran Recitations
Lectures
Fatwa
Articles
Fiqh
E-Books
Women
Boys & Girls 
Ramadan
Fatwa Audios
Month of Mercy
Women
Eed Al- Fitr
Food Recipes
Videos
Afghans have begun voting in the country's national elections amid tight security fear.
About 17 million people are eligible to vote, with 6,500 polling stations open in 364 districts across the country.
But even before the presidential and provincial polls opened at 7am (02:30 GMT) on Thursday, four loud explosions were heard in the early hours in Kandahar and one in the capital, Kabul.
In Logar province, south of Kabul, there were reports of four rockets being fired at schools which were being used as polling stations.
The Kandahar blasts occurred within 45 minutes of each other and police sources told Al Jazeera that one out of the 55 or so polling stations in the southern city had been hit.
There were no reports of casualties, but the fact that explosions could take place in the city centre despite security being stepped in the last few days, was likely to rattle voters.
Low turnout fears
The government regained control of Kandahar city last year but the south is still the Taliban heartland and the fighters have strongholds in districts surrounding the city as well as sympathizers in the city.
Khalid Pashtoon, a member of parliament from Kandahar, told Al Jazeera that a heightened sense of fear in the southern city may result in low voter turnout.
"The people can longer trust the security forces, particularly those in the rural areas."
But Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr, reporting from Kandahar, said that queues were forming at the polling station she had visited in the city.
The Taliban has demanded that Afghans boycott the polls, threatening to cut off the fingers of those who vote and saying they will attack polling stations.
A statement from the Taliban on Wednesday said Taliban fighters were closing roads across the country, the Reuters news agency reported.
"... all main and secondary roads will be blocked for traffic and the mujahidin will bear no responsibility for whoever gets hurt," the statement said.
Al Jazeera's James Bays, reporting from Kabul, said: "Some election observers are telling me that a turnout of less than 40, or even 30 per cent would question the credibility of these elections.
"It is very easy for election observers to travel to a polling station in a secure part of central Kabul, the most secure part of the country. The difficulty will be to visit more rural polling station in the south and east of the country."
Kabul quiet
In Kabul on Wednesday, the streets were quiet with shops and businesses closed and police checking the few cars of the roads.
Polls close at 11:30 GMT, with preliminary results expected by Saturday.
The Afghan government has called for an international media blackout on reporting violence on the day of the election, amid fears that security concerns could keep voters at home.
Opinion polls are indicating a lead for Karzai with 45 per cent of the ballot.
But without an outright majority of 50 per cent, Karzai would be forced into a run-off with his closest challenger, which is expected to be Abdullah Abdullah, his former foreign minister.
PHOTO CAPTION
An Afghan boy guides his donkeys carrying election supplies in the rugged mountains of Panjshir valley on August 17.
Al-Jazeera
Prayer Times
Prayer times for Doha, Qatar 
