Afghan President Hamid Karzai heard a litany of complaints today from residents of Marjah, the southern town that thousands of US, NATO Hand Afghan troops recently seized from the Taliban.

MAJOR fraud complaints in the Afghan presidential election surged yesterday to nearly 700, raising concern that the volume of cases that must be investigated will delay announcement of a winner and formation of a new government.

An Afghan vote monitoring group said Taliban militants in Afghanistan’s south cut off the fingers of two voters, carrying out a gruesome pre-election threat.

AFGHANISTAN’S leading human rights organisation said yesterday it was investigating the possibility that white phosphorus was used in a US-Taliban battle that killed scores of Afghans.