Afghans defy "bombs and intimidations" to vote

President Hamid Karzai has praised the Afghan people for braving Taliban "rockets, bombs and intimidations," and described the election as a success.

Speaking to reporters after the polls closed, following a one hour extension, Mr Karzai said "We'll see what the turnout was. But they came out to vote. That's great."

His praise has been echoed by Nato and the US, White House spokesperson Robert Gibbs said "Lots of people have defied threats of violence and terror to express their thoughts about the next government for the people of Afghanistan."

Afghanistan's interior ministry has reported that 73 attacks have taken place today across 15 provinces.

In Baghlan, Northern Afghanistan, eight died when police clashed with Taliban militia who were storming the town to prevent polling stations from opening. Also in Baghlan province a police chief was shot dead when a police post was attacked.

In Ghazni province, Taliban militants set-alight a bus on the Kabul-Kandahar highway, allegedly as punishment for breaking a Taliban imposed ban on using the road.

In Khost and Kandahar provinces two women and several children were killed when rockets hit their homes. More than 20 rockets hit Lashkar Gar, Helmand province's capital, an area known as a Taliban stronghold.

Overall it is thought around 26 people were killed in election day violence despite the presence of 300,000 Afghan and Nato troops, who were on patrol across Afghanistan to prevent attacks on polling stations.

Kai Eide, the head of the UN mission in Kabul said that overall the levels of violence had been "better than we feared" and that the security situation had been such that it "allowed people to take part in the elections".

Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen praised the success of today's poll as "a testimony to the determination of the Afghan people to build democracy".

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon issued a statement congratulating the people of Afghanistan on the presidential and provincial ballots.

The poll was the second presidential election in the country's history and was the first to be organised primarily by Afghans. he director of Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission, Azizullah Loudin said that voter turnout had been "high" when speaking on state-tv.

Voter numbers were believed to be very low in Southern and Eastern areas of Afghanistan, where the Taliban are dominant. Where as in Northern areas, such as Herat, experienced a higher turnout. In Kabul, some polling stations saw Afghans queue outside for the polls to open where as in others few votes were cast.

Some rural areas have reported that no votes were cast in some areas but officials hope that overall turnout will be around 50%.

Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, Brian Katulis, said that in a women's voting centre he visited in Kabul "there were long lines,[the] mood was festive". However, he said "Checkpoints and restrictions on traffic made Kabul like a ghost town."