Afghanistan goes to polls to elect a new President

Afghanistan will vote for their next President today amid tight security, following a bloody, two-month election campaign that has been marred by repeated attacks across Afghanistan. The Taliban have in recent days issued repeated warnings to attack polling centres and have told voters to stay away. The Interior Ministry says 72,000 forces will help



to secure polling stations.

Around 9.6 million Afghans are registered to vote. Several of the 18 original contenders have dropped out and the poll is considered a two-horse race between current President Ashraf Ghani and country's chief executive, Abdullah Abdullah.