Election workers began recounting ballots from the disputed Aug. 20 presidential election Monday, and a senior official said he expected to announce late next week whether President Hamid Karzai had won or would face a runoff with his main rival. A UN-backed commission ordered a partial recount from about 10 percent of the country's polling stations after allegations of widespread fraud in the vote, which was supposed to install a legitimate government to confront the growing Taleban threat. However, vote-rigging allegations have plunged Afghanistan into an electoral crisis at a time when Taleban militants are expanding from their southern strongholds into the north and west of the country. In a sign of the growing threat, hundreds of militants launched fierce attacks Saturday against two isolated outposts in Nuristan province, killing eight American soldiers in the biggest loss of US life in a single battle in more than a year. Afghan officials said US and Afghan forces had sealed off an area Monday where the assailants were believed hiding. In Kabul, election officials said the recount began Monday morning with ballots from 274 of the country's 3,498 polling stations. Ballots from about 84 more locations were expected shortly, according to the deputy director of the election commission, Zekria Barakzai. Barakzai said the count should take about three days to complete and that the commission would be able to announce the final results “by the end of next week.” Preliminary results released last month showed Karzai won the August balloting with 54.6 percent, enough to avoid a runoff with second place finisher Abdullah Abdullah.
