The major rival of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, Abdullah Abdullah, has claimed victory in the country's presidential election, AFP has reported.
"The results will be announced by the Independent Election Commission but we have the most votes. The election is not going to go to a second round," Abdullah said during a press conference.
Ashraf Ghani has not yet commented on the issue. The official counting of the votes is still underway.
Saturday's voting was overshadowed by a series of Taliban-claimed attacks across the country that reportedly resulted in dozens of deaths. This was Afghanistan's fourth presidential election since the Taliban was ousted from power by a US-led coalition in 2001. It comes at the time of fierce fighting between the country's security forces and the Taliban.
The initial rounds of talks between the US and the Taliban started in late 2018. After several rounds of talks did not prove effective, the sides finally agreed on a peace deal "in principle" and it was expected to be signed in Doha. But on 8 September, US President Donald Trump said he had cancelled the planned secret peace talks with the Taliban at Camp David following an attack in Kabul in which a US soldier was killed.
