The Independent Election Commission said at a press conference that all preparations were in place for around 17 million registered voters to elect a president and 420 provincial council members for the country's 34 provinces.

More than 270,000 election observers, including 2,000 foreign observers, are overseeing the balloting at more than 6,500 polling centres while the commission said it was unable to open voting stations in nine districts that remain outside government control.

While Taliban-led violence was expected to shadow the polls and dampen turnout, people on Kabul's streets expressed mixed feelings about the threats.

'If we want to change this government, we should come out of our homes and vote,' Ahmad Bari, a 32-year-old businessman, said. 'That is what I am going to do.'

But street vendor Mohammad Nasim, 26, said it was not worth risking his life to vote.

'Every day there is an attack, and there will be even more tomorrow, so I will take a day off and sleep and will not let any of my family members vote either,' he said.

Fearing a low turnout, the Afghan government requested all national and international media organisations not to report violence on election day, but schoolteacher Farid Ahmad said he was counting on such news.

'I will wait and see if there is an attack in the city,' Ahmad, 32, said. 'If things are calm, then I will go to the nearest polling station and vote.

'As an Afghan, I know it is my responsibility to vote, but it is also my responsibility to stay alive and feed my family.'