The second round of voting in Afghanistan's presidential election has been cancelled after the first round runner-up Abdullah Abdullah pulled out of the race. The vote had been scheduled for later this month amid allegations of massive fraud in the first round on 20 August 2009. Tony Cross, who covered the first round, as well as the 2004 presidential poll and 2005’s legislative election, reports on the situation in Afghanistan following the re-election of Hamid Karzai as the country's president.

Analysis - after the election

US/Afghanistan - Obama troop plan analysis

Obama meets the troops before his announcement(Photo: Reuters)

Why more troops? Can they win?

Reactions to President Barack Obama's plan to send 30,000 more US troops to Afghanistan have varied from the Taliban's promise to kill them to Nato chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen's promise to send 5,000 Europeans. What is behind the decision? And what are its chances of working?

2009-12-02 16:10 TU

Afghanistan - Karzai sworn in - analysis

Hamid Karzai inspects the guard of honour before his inauguration as President in Kabul, 19 November 2009.(Photo: Jerry Lampen/Reuters)

Afghans and Western leaders wary of Karzai anti-corruption pledges

Taking the oath of office as Afghanistan’s President on Thursday, Hamid Karzai promised to tackle corruption, violence and poverty during his second term. But his erstwhile foreign backers have put him on notice, and Afghans know he faces a huge challenge.

2009-11-19 15:15 TU

Reports after the election

Afghanistan - unrest

Ten killed in suicide blast during Karzai inauguration

A suicide bomber has killed 10 civilians in southern Afghanistan, the second attack on the same day President Hamid Karzai was sworn into office. The bombing in Uruzgan province followed a suicide attack in neighbouring Zabul, which killed two US soldiers.

2009-11-19 13:32 TU

Report: Foreign troops and Taliban on English-language students' minds

Afghanistan - presidential inauguration

Challenges await as Karzai is sworn in for second term

Afghan President Hamid Karzai vowed to combat corruption and extended a hand out to his chief rival, Abdullah Abdullah, after he was sworn in for a second term on Thursday, facing Western pressure to restore legitimacy as a US-led war stretches into a ninth year.

2009-11-19 09:14 TU

Report: Kabulis react to Karzai's swearing-in

Afghanistan - report

Poverty remains Afghanistan's forgotten curse

Afghan President Hamid Karzai is under international orders to tackle insurgency and corruption after he is sworn in on Thursday. But what about the poverty most Afghans suffer? A report from the streets of Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif.

2009-11-18 17:46 TU

Report: RFI's Tony Cross on poverty in Afghanistan

Afghanistan after the elections - security

Conspiracy theories blossom as violence increases in northern Afghanistan

Northern Afghanistan has been less affected by Taliban insurgency than the south, but violence increased there this year, particularly in the run-up to the controversial presidential election, giving rise to conspiracy theories and finger-pointing.

2009-11-17 10:29 TU

Interview: Farhad Azimi, Chair of the provincial council, Mazar-e-Sharif

Afghanistan - interview with key Abdullah ally

Northern powerbroker calls for Abdullah supporters in government

Supporters of Hamid Karzai’s main rival for Afghanistan’s presidency should be included in the new government, says Atta Mohammad, a big powerbroker in the north of the country in his provincial capital, Mazar-e-Sharif.

2009-11-16 15:29 TU

Report: office of Atta Mohammad, governor of Balkh province

Afghanistan - post elections

Sikhs struggle for recognition in the Islamic republic

Afghanistan’s presidential election this year brought to light potential tension between its various ethnic groups. But there are also small religious minorities in this overwhelmingly Muslim nation. What is life like for Afghanistan’s Sikhs?

2009-11-15 12:03 TU

Report: Sikhs in Kabul

Afghanistan - interview - anti-corruption official

Can Karzai end Afghan corruption?

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has to tackle huge problems, and according to reports, US ambassador Karl Eikenberry has no confidence in him. One of the biggest curses in today’s Afghanistan is corruption. Do Afghans think it can be ended?

2009-11-13 18:32 TU

Q+A: Ershad Ahmadi, deputy head, Afghan High Office of Oversight and Anti-Corruption

Afghanistan - report

Afghans resigned to country's fate

A teenage boy sands a door frame in the sun as cars and lorries roar past a carpentry shop in Kabul’s Yakatoot district. The area, a busy but not very wealthy collection of homes and small workplaces along the road to Jalalabad, is predominantly Pashtoon, Afghanistan’s majority ethnic group. President Hamid Karzai is a Pashtoon, as are the majority of his armed opponents, the Taliban.

2009-11-12 12:16 TU

Report: Kabul residents don't miss second round

Afghan news