Facing violence and threats from the Taliban, Afghan voters still turn out
AP Photo/Hoshang Hashimi
Following a dozen years under Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai's leadership, Afghan voters turned out at the polls on Saturday to elect the first president of the post-American era in their country.
U.S. troops were ordered to remain out of sight throughout the voting, so that the process would truly be "Afghan-owned," The Washington Post reported. While there were some incidents of violence — not to mention threats from the Taliban to stay home —Afghan voters arrived to cast their ballots anyways, in such high numbers that some polling stations ran out of ballots.
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