Early results show Afghan election too close to call

The first partial results from Afghanistan's election had President Hamid Karzai and his main rival running neck-and-neck yesterday, suggesting a close race headed for a second round.

The country has been in political limbo since last Thursday's election, with Mr Karzai and chief rival Abdullah Abdullah each claiming victory. Mr Abdullah and other challengers have accused Mr Karzai and the authorities of widespread fraud.

The elections are a major test for President Karzai after eight years in power and for US President Barack Obama, who has poured in thousands of extra troops as part of his new regional strategy to defeat the Taliban and stabilise Afghanistan.

A relative lull in violence since the election was shattered later yesterday by a massive truck bomb in southern Kandahar city, the birth place of the Taliban, which killed 13 people and wounded over 30, hospital officials and police said.

A Reuters witness said the blast set fire to a restuarant and levelled a shop and three houses.

The blast also caused several cars to explode, leading one security source to initially say a series of simultaneous bombs had been detonated near buildings housing a Canadian development project, Afghan security forces and a Japanese contractor.

"The explosive materials were stored in a truck," said Kandahar deputy police chief Ahmed Shah.

There was no information immediately available on the nationality of the casualties. A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the blast.

The partial election results, based on 10 per cent of votes counted, gave Mr Karzai a slight edge with 41 per cent against 39 per cent for Mr Abdullah, his former foreign minister - a difference of about 10,000 out of about 524,000 valid votes counted.

US envoy Richard Holbrooke urged caution, saying the early results were misleading.

"You don't call it with 10 per cent... it's too early to call," Mr Holbrooke, who left Afghanistan on Monday, told reporters in Turkey.