Afghans have finished casting their ballots to pick a president in a runoff election between former Cabinet ministers . Saturday 's runoff between former Foreign Affairs Minister Abdullah Abdullah and former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani went on despite incidents of violence : Afghan Deputy Interior Minister Gen. Mohammad Ayoub Salangi said 10 Afghan soldiers , 14 civilians and 19 insurgents were killed in a day that saw nearly 150 attacks throughout the country . Salangi said more than 60 Afghan troops and 41 civilians were injured in those attacks , as were 10 insurgents . Insurgents cut off the inked fingers of 11 voters , mostly of whom were elderly men returning home from a polling station in Herat province , according to Samiullah Qatra , the police chief of Western Herat province . The injured men were taken to a hospital , Salangi tweeted . Citizens have their fingers inked to show that they have voted . Even though the day was marked by violence , the International Security Assistance Force still lauded the election as a security success . `` ISAF commends the Afghan National Security Forces , who essentially conducted non-stop security operations following the April 5th elections , '' said an ISAF news release . `` The ANSF led all aspects of security , securing approximately 6,200 polling centers across the country . This is a historic accomplishment . '' Third vote since Taliban 's fall . The Obama administration praised the `` historic presidential election '' on Saturday . `` These elections are a significant step forward on Afghanistan 's democratic path , and the courage and resolve of the Afghan people to make their voices heard is a testament to the importance of these elections to securing Afghanistan 's future , '' read a statement from White House Press Secretary Jay Carney . `` As the President said when he reaffirmed our continuing commitment to Afghanistan beyond 2014 , while the future of Afghanistan must be decided by Afghans , the United States will support the Afghan people as they continue the hard work of building a democracy . '' This is the third election since the fall of the Taliban in 2001 , and it 's set to be the first democratic transfer of power in the fragile , war-torn country . After casting his own ballot , President Hamid Karzai gave a short speech urging other voters to head to polling stations , the presidential palace said . Their participation would help lead to `` stability and a prosperous life '' in the country , he said . `` In reality , today is the day that Afghanistan is stepping from a transition period to stability , development and peace , '' he said . `` Today is your day to come out and save your soil from being ruined , bring stability to your country , brighten its future , choose your president and found the future of children of this soil by your vote . '' Karzai opponent was top vote getter in first round . Abdullah was a vocal critic of the Taliban during their years in power . Although he was once an ally of Karzai , serving in his government as foreign minister , he has in recent years become an opponent . He challenged Karzai in the 2009 election but dropped out after the first round to protest what he said was large-scale voting fraud . Ghani is a former academic and U.S. citizen who gave up his passport to run for the Afghan presidency in 2009 . He worked as an adviser to Karzai and as finance minister in his Cabinet . In the general election on April 5 , Abdullah secured 45 % of the vote , while Ghani got 31.6 % . A candidate needs to receive more than 50 % of the votes to win the first round and avoid a runoff . Vote counting has already started in some provinces , including northern Balkh and southern Kandahar , Afghan election officials said . Some 7 million turned out to vote in the April 5 election , but there was no immediate information available about Saturday 's turnout . The results will be announced on July 22 , the election commission said .
Insurgents cut off inked signatures of 11 voters in one province . More than 100 killed and 100 injured in 150 attacks across the country . The administration praises elections ; final results will be announced on July 30 . Afghanistan held its presidential runoff election Saturday .