Afghan President Hamid Karzai has called on the electorate to turn out en masse and vote, saying "the enemies will do their best but it won't help".

At a ceremony marking Afghan independence, President Karzai said, "I hope that tomorrow our countrymen, millions of them, will come and vote for the country's stability, the country's peace, the country's progress".

Analysts fear that many Afghans will avoid polling stations due to fear of Taliban attacks. Kabul has ordered the media, including foreign journalists, not to report any attacks. The government has threatened to deport any foreign journalist who defies ban.

There have been almost daily attacks and other incidences of violence in the run-up to Afghanistan's second presidential election since the 2001 US invasion. Most of the violence has taken place in the south and southeast of the country. Attacks in various locations across the country left 21 people dead today. In the capital Kabul, which had been reasonably peaceful until just a few weeks ago, police and Taliban gunmen fought for several hours after insurgents stormed the bank building in the centre of the city. Police killed three insurgents.