Fourteen candidates are registered but the race will likely come down to incumbent President Ashraf Ghani and his former deputy Abdullah Abdullah.

The winner will play a crucial role in the country’s quest to end the war with the Taliban and any resumption of talks between the insurgents and the United States that were called off earlier this month.

About 9.6 million of Afghanistan’s 34 million people are registered to vote for one of the 14 candidates at around 5,000 polling centers that will be protected by some 100,000 Afghan forces with air support from U.S. forces.

In the province of Balkh, voters had to wait for election officials to arrive at polling stations set up in schools, colleges, mosques, hospital campuses and district centers.

An explosion at a polling station in a mosque in the city of Kandahar wounded 14 people, according to a security source.

In the province of Faryab Afghan forces clashed with Taliban fighters in six districts, forcing people to stay indoors and refrain from voting.