In pictures: Afghans queue up for historic vote

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  An Afghan woman casts her ballot at a polling station in Mazar-i- sharif April 5, 2014. Voting was peaceful during the first few hours of Afghanistan’s presidential election on Saturday, with only isolated attacks on polling stations as the country embarked on the first democratic transfer of power since the fall of a Taliban regime in 2001. Zohra Bensemra / Reuters

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  An Afghan woman leaves the booth after marking her ballot papers at a polling station in the northwestern city of Herat on April 5, 2014. Afghan voters went to the polls to choose a successor to President Hamid Karzai, braving Taliban threats in a landmark election held as US-led forces wind down their long intervention in the country. Aref Karimi / AFP

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  An Afghan woman, center, walks to cast her ballot at a polling station in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, April 5, 2014. Afghan voters lined up for blocks at polling stations nationwide on Saturday, defying a threat of violence by the Taliban to cast ballots in what promises to be the nation’s first democratic transfer of power. Muhammed Muheisen / AP

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  Afghan women wait to cast their ballot at a polling station in Mazar-i-sharif April 5, 2014. Voting began on Saturday in Afghanistan’s presidential election, which will mark the first democratic transfer of power since the country was tipped into chaos by the fall of the hardline Islamist Taliban regime in 2001. Zohra Bensemra / Reuters

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  Afghan residents wishing to vote line up underneath a billboard showing images of Afghan President Hamid Karzai (L) and of deceased Afghan figures Burhandin Rabani (R) and Ahmad Shah Massoud (C) outside a polling station in Mazar-i-Sharif on April 5, 2014. Afghan voters went to the polls Saturday to choose a successor to President Hamid Karzai, braving Taliban threats in a landmark election held as US-led forces wind down their long intervention in the country. Afghanistan’s third presidential election brings an end to 13 years of rule by 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. Farshad Usyan / AFP

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  An Afghan policeman searches voters prior to entering a local polling station in Kandahar on April 5, 2014. Afghan voters went to the polls to choose a successor to President Hamid Karzai, braving Taliban threats in a landmark election held as US-led forces wind down their long intervention in the country. Banaras Khan / AFP

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  An Afghan policeman searches a voter before he enters a polling station to cast his vote in Kandahar on April 5, 2014. Afghan voters went to the polls to choose a successor to President Hamid Karzai, braving Taliban threats in a landmark election held as US-led forces wind down their long intervention in the country. Banaras Khan / AFP

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  An Afghan woman shows her voters registration card after casting her ballot during the presidential elections in Kunduz, Afghanistan, 05 April 2014. Afghanistan began voting 05 April, for a new president amid fears of violence and insecurity. About 12 million voters are eligible to cast ballots at some 6,400 polling centers across the country, according to IEC. Around 400,000 security forces have been deployed. Nasir Waqif / EPA

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  An election official uses an infrared light to check the thumb of a voter as the man dips his finger in ink before voting at a polling station in Kabul April 5, 2014. Voting began on Saturday in Afghanistan’s presidential election, which will mark the first democratic transfer of power since the country was tipped into chaos by the fall of the hardline Islamist Taliban regime in 2001. Tim Wimborne / Reuters

Afghans braved the threat of Taliban violence on Saturday to elect a successor to President Hamid Karzai in the country’s first democratic transfer of power as US-led forces wind down their 13-year war.