KABUL, Afghanistan - Trooping into schools, mosques and tents, millions of Afghans defied a Taliban boycott call and militant attacks to vote for a new parliament Sunday, taking the last formal step in starting a democracy aimed at ending decades of rule by the gun.
Officials hailed the polls as a major success, although initial estimates suggested voter turnout was lower than hoped for because of security fears and frustrations over the inclusion of several warlords on the ballot.
"After 30 years of wars, interventions, occupations and misery, today Afghanistan is moving forward, making an economy, making political institutions," President Hamid Karzai said as he cast his ballot nearly a year after his own victory in an election that defied Taliban threats.
He praised Afghans for going out to vote for the parliament and 34 provincial councils "in spite of the terrorism, in spite of the threats."
Fifteen people, including a French commando in the U.S.-led coalition, were killed in a spate of violence during the day. But there was no spectacular attack as threatened by Taliban militants, whose stepped-up insurgency the past six months caused more than 1,200 deaths.
Heavy security kept most violence away from polling stations. Election officials reported three people wounded and no one killed in attacks near polls and said only 16 of the 6,270 voting stations did not open because of security threats.
Vote counting begins Tuesday, and with donkeys and camels being used to collect ballots in some remote areas, preliminary election results are not expected until early October.
Even then, it likely will take time to figure out who has the power in the new Wolesi Jirga, a parliament with 249 seats, 68 of which are set aside for women.
Most of the 2,775 candidates ran as independents, and Karzai was careful not to publicly favor anyone, fearing renewed tensions if any political blocs become too powerful.
Rights activists viewed the election as a big step for women in this traditionally male-dominated society. The 5,800 candidates for parliament and the provincial assemblies included 582 women.
The United States started Afghans on the road toward democracy when it led a military campaign in late 2001 to topple the Taliban for refusing to hand over Osama bin Laden and close al-Qaida camps. A tribal council adopted a constitution early in 2004, followed by Afghanistan's first presidential election last fall and then Sunday's parliament ballot.
At least 190 U.S. military personnel have been killed in or near Afghanistan during that period, and Washington hopes the strengthening democracy will calm the insurgency and let American troops start to withdraw.
U.S. Ambassador Ronald Neumann called the elections a "great success," putting an optimistic cast on reports that voter turnout appeared lower than for October's presidential election.
Election organizers said voter turnout figures would not be known until today.
Some 12.4-million Afghans were registered to vote, up from 10-million for the presidential election.
