Millions of Afghans defied Taliban threats to vote in crucial elections.
It underscored their enormous expectations from elections that come as the country’s government prepares to face down a ferocious insurgency largely on its own.
Combat forces from the US-led coalition are winding down a 13-year presence and the president Hamid Karzai is stepping aside.
It means the country’s new leader will find an altered landscape as he replaces the only president Afghans have known since the Taliban were ousted in the wake of the September 11 attacks.
But for some progress, particularly with women’s rights, the country’s situation is inauspicious, especially with its poor security and battered economy.
Yet despite spiralling carnage and grave disappointments, Afghans by the millions crowded mosque courtyards and queued up at schools to vote on Saturday.
Nazia Azizi, a 40-year-old housewife, was first in line at a school in eastern Kabul.
“I have suffered so much from the fighting and I want prosperity and security in Afghanistan. That is why I have come here to cast my vote,” she said.
Independent Election Commission chairman Ahmad Yousuf Nouristani said estimates showed more than 7million ballots were cast, although he warned that was based on preliminary information.