KABUL: Afghans voted in presidential elections amid tight security on Saturday, as Taliban militants determined to disrupt the process unleashed a string of attacks on polling centres across the country that killed at least five people.

The first-round vote marked the culmination of a bloody election campaign that despite a large field of candidates is seen as a close race between President Ashraf Ghani and his bitter rivalAbdullah Abdullah, the country`s chief executive.

Authorities placed Kabul under partial lockdown in an effort to stop would-be suicide bombers from targeting residents as they cast their votes.

The Taliban, who carried out multiple bombings during the two-month election season, claimed to have conducted hundreds of attacks against Afghanistan`s `fake elections`.

Officials said five security of ficials had been killed and 37 civilians wounded.

`The enemy carried out 68 attacks against election sites across the country...

but security forces repelled most of the attacks,` acting Defence Minister Asadullah Khalid said.

Compared to previous elections, the initial toll appeared relatively light, though authorities in the past have suppressed information on election day only to later give much larger numbers. Having voted at a Kabul high school, President Ghani said the most important issue was finding a leader with a mandate to bring peace to the war-torn nation.

Some 9.6 million Afghans were registered to vote and observers from the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission said turnout appeared to be low, especially among women.

Pakistan congratulated the people and government of the neighbouring country for successfully holding the presidential election despite tough challenges.

In a statement, the Foreign Office said: `The peopleof Afghanistan particularly deserve appreciation for their clear decision to continue with the democratic course despite serious hurdles and challenges.

It expressed the hope that the new Afghan government would revive the stalled peace process.

`We sincerely hope that the new government elected through a free, fair and transparent voting process will enjoy the full mandate to take the stalled peace process forward. This is important for ending the 18-year-old conflict through an inclusive, Afghan-led and Afghan-owned negotiated political settlement.

Pakistan would extend assistance to the new government in this regard, added the statement.-Agencies