Eleven Afghan civilians have had a finger cut off by the Taliban as a punishment for voting in this weekend’s presidential run-off.<br /><br />More than 40 people have died and 70 others wounded in election-related violence.<br /><br />Before the poll the Taliban had proclaimed it a sham and had threatened to disrupt the process.<br /><br />One victim said he had voted to choose a president but was then kidnapped and had his finger chopped off.<br /><br />A local doctor said their fingers, which had been marked with the special election ink to show they had voted were amputated with a sharp cutter without any local anesthetic.<br /><br />Both presidential candidates claim to be leading the contest but both say they are concerned about fraud. <br /><br />The UN has urged Abdullah Abdullah and former finance minister Ashraf Ghani to honour the outcome when the results are announced at the end of July.<br /><br />Despite the bloodshed millions of Afghans turned out to elect a successor to President Hamid Karzai.
