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KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Under the menacing threat of violence from the Taliban, Afghans headed to the polls on Thursday in the war-ravaged nation's second-ever national election. Burqa-clad women display ID cards as they queue to vote in Kandahar on Thursday.
1 of 4 more photos » In parts of the capital Kabul, where recent calm was shattered by a series of bloody attacks leading up to election day, the streets were eerily empty early in the day, save extra security checkpoints. At midday, NATO's International Security Assistance Force reported "Kabul is calm."
The Taliban has vowed to disrupt the voting, and the risk may have been too high for some Afghans to venture out to vote. The government ordered a ban on media coverage of incidents of violence in an effort to "ensure the wide participation of the Afghan people."
Thousands of NATO and Afghan soldiers provided security at the polls and more than 30 observer groups -- domestic and international -- were on hand to monitor the voting. Watch an election monitor in Kabul discuss what's being examined »
But in other parts of Afghanistan that have been largely spared the daily drumbeat of car bombs, assassinations and whizzing rockets, voters lined up to cast their ballots.
Pajhwok, an independent Afghan news agency, reported brisk turnout in western Herat province, which borders Iran. source: cnn.com