Karzai widens lead over rival in Afghan vote

updated 7:58 p.m. ET Aug. 26, 2009

KABUL - President Hamid Karzai extended his lead over his top challenger in Afghanistan's presidential election, new vote results showed Wednesday, but remains short of the 50 percent threshold that would allow him to avoid a two-man runoff.

Afghan election officials are slowly releasing results from last week's presidential election, and final certified results will not be ready until at least mid-September, after dozens of serious complaints of fraud have been investigated.

Low voter turnout and the fraud allegations have cast a pall over the vote, seen as critical to efforts to stabilize the country, which is wracked by Taliban insurgents and doubts over its fragile democracy. Top challenger Abdullah Abdullah has accused Karzai of widespread rigging, including ballot stuffing and voter intimidation, claims Karzai's camp has denied.

The latest returns boost Karzai's standing to 44.8 percent. Abdullah, a former foreign minister, now has 35.1 percent. The count is based on returns from 17 percent of polling stations nationwide, meaning the results could still change dramatically. Tuesday's returns had Abdullah trailing Karzai by just 3 percent.

Although millions of Afghans voted last Thursday, apathy and fear of militant attacks meant turnout was down on the nation's first direct presidential election in 2004 that was swept by Karzai.

Violent summer
This summer has been Afghanistan's most violent since the 2001 U.S. invasion. President Barack Obama ordered an additional 21,000 troops to the country this year, in part to help secure the elections. But violence has continued to rise.

NATO said two U.S. troops died Wednesday in two separate attacks, keeping August on pace to be the deadliest month of the war for the U.S. military. The two deaths bring to 43 the number of U.S. troops killed this month. Last month was the deadliest of the war, when 45 U.S. troops died.

The Taliban on Wednesday denied any responsibility for a major bombing that killed at least 43 people and wounded 65 in southern Afghanistan's largest city just after dark Tuesday.

The explosion ripped through a central area of Kandahar two hours after the first batch of election results were released. Rescue workers were still pulling out injured people early Wednesday. The blast occurred in a district that includes U.N. facilities and an Afghan intelligence office.

The Interior Ministry said the blast was from remote-controlled explosives planted in a truck. Local officials had said a cluster of five vehicle bombs caused the blast.

Kandahar is the spiritual home of the Taliban, but the group said it had no involvement in the attack. The Taliban often denies it was behind attacks that kill civilians.

"We are denying responsibility, and condemn this attack in which innocent civilians were killed," Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi wrote in a text message sent to an Associated Press reporter.

Kandahar Gov. Tooryalai Wesa said officials could not yet say who was responsible. The attackers "have no conscience or families," he said.

"The area was full of innocent civilians. There were no important government institutions," said Wesa.

'Cruel people'
Among the dead was 26-year-old Mohammad Masoom, a tailor whose shop was near the blast site. His father, Mohammad Yusuf, said he ran to the scene after the explosion but could not find his son.

Yusuf cried as he described the "shocking moment" he saw Masoom's lifeless body at the hospital. The family buried him early Wednesday.

"Those cruel people!" said Yusuf, whose other son was wounded. "They killed my son, and so many innocent people. I don't know what these people want."

Interior Minister Hanif Atmar rushed to Kandahar as the head of a government delegation to investigate the attack and hand out payments to victims' families.

Atmar said Afghan security forces, supported by NATO troops, would conduct a search operation and try to have suspects in custody within 72 hours.

An Afghan employee of the International Committee of the Red Cross was killed in the explosion, the group said.

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