Hamid Karzai extends his lead over top challenger in Afghanistan's presidential election

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, taragana.com reported.

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 released Wednesday 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 Aug. 20, apathy and fear of militant attacks meant turnout was lower than in the nation’s first direct presidential election in 2004 that was swept by Karzai.

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.