Afghan vote-counting under way amid fears of irregularities

Kabul: Vote-counting in Afghanistan’s parliamentary election was under way today after millions defied militant threats to cast their votes in the war-ravaged nation.

International allies praised Afghans for their courage amid fresh violence that saw 14 civilians killed during the second parliamentary vote since the 2001 US-led invasion ousted the Taliban.

But following UN and US warnings that security and fraud were concerns, complaints of irregularities emerged, with allegations of intimidation and ineligible voters.

Insurgents fired rockets in several cities and set off bombs at a polling station and beside a convoy carrying the governor of Kandahar, the Taliban stronghold in the south, but officials said several more attacks were foiled.

After polls closed yesterday, the United Nations and the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) commended the Afghan people for upholding their right to vote in face of threats from the Taliban insurgency.