Reports of violence stain Afghan elections

KABUL, Afghanistan, Aug. 20 (UPI) -- Afghan officials said election-day violence led to the deaths of 26 people nationwide, but still called Thursday's vote a success.

Vote-counting was under way, but initial results weren't expected for up to 48 hours, while final results wouldn't be certified until mid-September, CNN reported.

"At some (polling stations) there is a very large line," said Azizullah Ludin of Afghanistan's Independent Electoral Commission. "We have to complete all these people that are coming here."

Ludin said polling time was extended in some places because of higher-than-expected voter turnout at some precincts and technical issues that delayed voting in others.

No official details on voter turnout was available, CNN said. Afghans were electing a president from 40 candidates, and 420 members of the country's provisional council.

Election observers from 30 domestic and international groups said voting in Kabul province went fairly smooth, although several reports of voting irregularities surfaced.

"We have heard about what appears to be a successful election in Afghanistan despite the Taliban's efforts to disrupt it," U.S. President Barack Obama said Thursday during a nationwide radio call-in show.

The Taliban had vowed to discourage voting, and witnesses told The New York Times that two people were hanged in Kandahar after they voted to discourage others.

The Pajhwok Afghan News posted online reports of deadly attacks across Afghanistan, but CNN said it hasn't been able to confirm the reports independently.

Violence reported by CNN included:

-- A U.S. service member died in a mortar strike in eastern Afghanistan.

-- Fighting continued for a second day in Baghlan, a day after fighting killed the city's police chief.

-- No deaths were reported in Gardez when four rockets and a roadside bomb struck the city's outskirts.