Roadside bombs killed 20 civilians in southern Afghanistan and fighters killed 11 policemen and six private guards in attacks, officials said Saturday as the country awaited results from last month's disputed election. Incumbent President Hamid Karzai held a firm lead in controversial Afghan elections, taking 54.3 percent of the vote, according to partial results announced Saturday. Figures released by Afghanistan's Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) put Karzai's nearest rival, Abdullah Abdullah, well behind in the count so far with 28.1 percent. The IEC announced 95 percent of all votes cast in the Aug. 20 polls. Although a final outcome will still await the results of a fraud investigation that could take months. In the worst incident reported Saturday, the Interior Ministry said a roadside bomb in Uruzgan province in the south had struck two passenger cars, killing 14 civilians. Provincial police chief Juma Gul Hemat put the death toll at 12. He said: “The Taleban obviously planted the roadside bomb to target Afghan and foreign troops, but unfortunately it struck civilians.” Another roadside bomb in Kandahar province killed six civilians, the Interior Ministry and provincial governor said. In Kunduz province in the north, fighters attacked a police post, killing seven policemen including the commander at the checkpoint in a battle that ran from the middle of the night into morning, provincial governor Mohammad Omar said. He said two other policemen were missing and feared captured by the fighters. Fighters killed four policemen in an attack on a patrol in Nangarhar province in the east of the country Saturday, provincial government spokesman Ahmad Zia Abdulzai said. Six guards from a local security firm were killed when fighters attacked their office in eastern Kunar province, provincial governor Fazlullah Wahidi said.
