Afghans protest over alleged poll fraud

Abdullah Abdullah leads supporters on march to president's palace to accuse incumbent of complicity

 

Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah has led several thousand demonstrators through Kabul, upping the stakes in his protest against alleged election fraud that has triggered a political crisis.
"Death to Ashraf Ghani! Death to the election commission!" Abdullah's supporters chanted on Friday near the presidential palace as he was carried through the rowdy crowds on the roof of a truck, according to the AFP news agency.
Abdullah rejects last week's election result, saying he was the victim of massive ballot-box stuffing in the June 14 poll, while his rival Ashraf Ghani has claimed victory by more than one million votes.
He has also accused the incumbent president, Hamid Karzai, provincial governors and police of complicity.
The Reuters news agency estimated at least 10,000 people were involved in the protest. Some destroyed posters of Karzai.
It was the biggest protest since the fraud dispute erupted and the first that Abdullah attended.
'Clean votes'
"If our demands are not met, we will continue our protest as long as fraud votes are not separated from clean votes," said Ahmad Zia, 22, waving an Abdullah poster and the Afghan national flag