KABUL, August 31 (RIA Novosti) - With 43.81% of ballots counted in last week's presidential elections Afghanistan's incumbent president, Hamid Karzai, is ahead with 1,317,121 votes, the country's Central Election Commission said on Monday.
Daud Najafi, chief electoral officer, said Karzai's nearest rival, former foreign minster Abdullah Abdullah, has 965,256 votes.
With 45.9 percent of the vote, Karzai is still short of the outright majority needed to avoid a run-off.
Election day was plagued by militant attacks, with some 400 registered across the country.
