Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission said initial results based on 10 per cent of the vote from 26 out of 34 provinces showed former opposition leader Abdullah Abdullah in the lead with 41.9 per cent.
In second place was Western-leaning academic Ashraf Ghani with 37.6 per cent of the vote, the IEC said, while a third candidate, running with the backing of two of President Hamid Karzai’s brothers, trailed far behind with 9.8 per cent.
“I want to make clear that the results could change in future, as we announce the results with additional percentages of the vote and this is not the final result,” said IEC chairman Ahmad Yousuf Nuristani.
Reuters