Afghanistan presidential election - in pictures

A policeman tries to keep order as voters wait in line outside a polling station in Bamiyan. Photograph: SHEFAYEE/AFP/Getty Images

An official frisks female voters waiting to enter a polling station. Afghanistan's third presidential election brings an end to 13 years of rule by Hamid Karzai, who has held power since the Taliban were ousted in a US-led invasion in 2001, and will be the first democratic handover of power in the country's turbulent history. Photograph: Shah Marai/AFP/Getty Images

Men line up for the registration process before they cast their votes as burqa-clad women walk past the polling station in Kabul. Photograph: Massoud Hossaini/AP

An Afghan man casts his vote. Photograph: Shah Marai/AFP/Getty Images

An election officer sprays liquid on the finger of a voter at a polling station to confirm that he has voted. Photograph: Ahmad Masood/Reuters

Presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah speaks to the media after voting. Photograph: Ahmad Masood/Reuters

Afghan women queue outside a school to vote in the north-western city of Herat. Photograph: Aref Karimi/AFP/Getty Images

Afghan president Hamid Karzai holds up his inkstained finger after voting in the presidential election. Photograph: Mohammad Ismail/Reuters

A voter looks at the long list of candidates for provincial councils as she gets ready to cast her ballot at a local polling station in Kabul. Photograph: Shah Marai/AFP/Getty Images

Men flock to cast their votes, defying a threat of violence by the Taliban. Photograph: Abdul Khaliq/AP

A woman casts her ballot at a polling station in Mazar-i-Sharif. Photograph: Zohra Bensemra/Reuters

An elderly woman shows another woman her inked finger. Photograph: Muhammed Muheisen/AP

Afghan villagers adjust election materials on the back of donkeys as they head back to their village along a country road high in the mountains in the northern district of Shutul. Photograph: Hashmatullah/AFP/Getty Images