With just days to go before voters in Afghanistan head to the polls to elect a president, new violence has citizens and international observers concerned about the country's electoral process. RFE/RL's experts offer the latest on the April 5 elections that will end more than a decade of governance by the outgoing Hamid Karzai and chart the future of Afghanistan.
# After Karzai: Afghanistan Election 2014: In a series of reports from Kabul and the surrounding region, correspondent Frud Bezhan covers all aspects of the race, including:
-- Wednesday's violence has heightened security fears and underscores Taliban threats to do "everything it can" to disrupt the elections. But will it keep voters home on polling day?
-- Bezhan discovers how easy it is to commit voter fraud in a few simple steps.
-- Thousands of prospective Afghan voters turned out in registration offices across the country, and a significant number of those seeking new voter cards this year have been women.
-- While many in Afghanistan are gripped by election fever, members of the country’s tiny Sikh community say they couldn't care less.
-- A quarter of a century after Soviet soldiers withdrew in defeat, Moscow is looking to reestablish its economic and cultural footprint in Afghanistan -- not with troops but with tens of millions of dollars in investment projects.
# FLASH ANALYSIS: RFE/RL's regional director for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Akbar Ayazi, discusses the front-running candidates, the shaky security situation, and the measures put in place to help ensure a free and fair vote.
# "Vote," a Kabul street art initiative, was organized by three NGOs in an effort to encourage participation in the democratic process. Photos by Radio Free Afghanistan.
For news from all of RFE/RL's broadcast regions, follow us online and on Twitter and Facebook.
-- Karisue Wyson
# After Karzai: Afghanistan Election 2014: In a series of reports from Kabul and the surrounding region, correspondent Frud Bezhan covers all aspects of the race, including:
-- Wednesday's violence has heightened security fears and underscores Taliban threats to do "everything it can" to disrupt the elections. But will it keep voters home on polling day?
-- Bezhan discovers how easy it is to commit voter fraud in a few simple steps.
-- Thousands of prospective Afghan voters turned out in registration offices across the country, and a significant number of those seeking new voter cards this year have been women.
-- While many in Afghanistan are gripped by election fever, members of the country’s tiny Sikh community say they couldn't care less.
-- A quarter of a century after Soviet soldiers withdrew in defeat, Moscow is looking to reestablish its economic and cultural footprint in Afghanistan -- not with troops but with tens of millions of dollars in investment projects.
# FLASH ANALYSIS: RFE/RL's regional director for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Akbar Ayazi, discusses the front-running candidates, the shaky security situation, and the measures put in place to help ensure a free and fair vote.
# "Vote," a Kabul street art initiative, was organized by three NGOs in an effort to encourage participation in the democratic process. Photos by Radio Free Afghanistan.
For news from all of RFE/RL's broadcast regions, follow us online and on Twitter and Facebook.
-- Karisue Wyson