The upcoming 2014 Afghan election - 2014 الانتخابات الأفغانية المقبلة

Afghans will head to the polls on Saturday April 5 to choose a successor to President Hamid Karzai and to decide the make-up of 34 provincial councils in elections seen as a benchmark of progress since the Taliban were ousted from power in 2001

سوف يتوجه الأفغان إلى صناديق الاقتراع يوم السبت 5 أبريل لاختيار خليفة للرئيس حامد كرزاي والبت فى انشاء 34 مجالس للمحافظات في الانتخابات التشريعية التي تعتبر مقياسا للتقدم المحرز منذ الاطاحة بحركة طالبان من السلطة عام 2001

Presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah arrives for an election campaign in Panjshir Province March 31, 2014.

An Afghan National Army (ANA) soldier looks out from a rocky overlook as soldiers with the U.S. Army's 2nd Battalion 87th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division patrol below on March 31, 2014 near Pul-e Alam, Afghanistan. The primary mission of soldiers with the 10th Mountain Division stationed at FOB Shank is to advise and assist Afghan National Security Forces in the region. Security is at a heightened state throughout Afghanistan as the nation prepares for the April 5th presidential election.

Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah during an election campaign in Panjshir Province March 31, 2014.

Afghan presidential candidate and hardline Islamist Abdul Rasul Sayyaf addresses an election campaign rally in Kandahar on March 31, 2014. Taliban gunmen abducted a provincial election candidate in northern Afghanistan, officials said, five days ahead of national polls Islamist militants have vowed to target.

An Afghan policewoman frisks women as they gather to receive their voter registration cards in Herat, Afghanistan, 31 March 2014. Preparations for next week's presidential election were continuing, with 3.7 million Afghans having already received their voting cards. The presidential vote has been slated for 05 April but campaigning has been marred by violence, with the Taliban vowing to disrupt the elections.

Afghan schoolgirls stand onstage in front of their country's coat-of-arms as they prepare to sing the national anthem during a campaign event for Habiba Surabi, the second vice-president candidate running on the ticket of presidential candidate Zalmai Rassoul, at a local hall in Kabul on March 31, 2014

An Afghan worker of the Independent Election Commission photographs a voter for her voter registration card in Kabul, Afghanistan, 31 March 2014.

Supporters of Afghan vice presidential candidate, Habiba Sarabi, hold flags with Afghan presidential candidate Zalmai Rassoul's photo and his two vice presidential candidate's photos during a campaign rally for women in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, March 31, 2014.

Supporters of Afghan vice presidential candidate, Habiba Sarabi, listen to her speech during a campaign rally for women in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, March 31, 2014. Afghan women activists held a campaign rally to support Afghan vice presidential candidate, Habiba Sarabi and Afghan presidential candidate Zalmai Rassoul in the upcoming presidential election on April 5th

A crowd prays as they start to gather in a field to see Abdullah before a campaign stop in Dashtak, Afghanistan on March 31, 2014.

A man balances atop a bar as he and a crowd of supporters of Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah gather in a field to see Abdullah before a campaign stop in Dashtak, Afghanistan on March 31, 2014.

An Afghan woman shows her voter registration card at a voter registration center in Kabul, Afghanistan, 31 March 2014.

Afghan residents queue to receive their voter cards for the upcoming presidential election at a voter registration center in Herat on March 31, 2014. The vote, which will choose a successor to President Hamid Karzai, comes as US-led foreign troops withdraw after 13 years of fighting the fierce Islamist insurgency raging across the south and east of the country.

Afghan women gather to receive their voter registration cards in Herat, Afghanistan, 31 March 2014. Preparations for next week's presidential election were continuing, with 3.7 million Afghans having already received their voting cards.