Abdullah Abdullah prepares to let loose balloons during his campaign rally. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
Women gather in a seperate area during the Abdullah rally at Kabul’s main sports stadium. Afghanistan’s presidential election is Thursday. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
Young men try for a closer view of Abdullah. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
A supporter of Abdullah Abdullah scales a fence at the campaign rally. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
Men in a Kabul juice shop watch the final Afghan presidential debate. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
Afghan President Hamid Karzai attends the opening of a hospital in Kabul. An election that was supposed to see him coast to a second five-year term has become a tight race that may deny him the majority of votes he needs to win the presidency in the first round of balloting Thursday. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
A poll released last week by the International Republican Institute showed gains for President Karzai but also for his main challengers. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
President Hamid Karzai center, greet his supporters during an election rally in Kabul, Afghanistan on Friday. During his first campaign rally in the capital, Afghanistan’s president shook hands and roused supporters with promises to hold international troops more accountable. (Rafiq Maqbool / Associated Press)
A crowd gathers in a large, hot tent in Kabul to show support for President Hamid Karzi, who did not appear. Until recently, Karzai spent little time in public, leaving the campaigning to aides and surrogates. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
Backers in Kabul run after Afhan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah, who exhorted the crowd: “Don’t choose the wrong person. Don’t bring back a government that didn’t do as it promised.” (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
Abdullah meets with supporters in his private garden outside Kabul. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
Opposition presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai greets supporters at a rally in Kabul earlier in the month. (Rafiq Maqbool / Associated Press)
Ahmadzai addresses supporters at rally in Kabul. Forty candidates are vying for the presidency in the Aug. 20 election. (Rafiq Maqbool / Associated Press)
Campaign posters are plastered around Kabul in advance of the Aug. 20 presidential elections. President Hamid Karzi has been in power since U.S.-led troops overthrew the Taliban in 2001. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
