Final certified results of the Afghan parliamentary elections in five more provinces have been released, chief official of the UN-sponsored Joint Electoral Management Body (JEMB) said Sunday.

"We have final certified results of five more provinces today and we expect to announce more certified results in the coming days," Richard Atwood told newsmen at a press briefing.

These five provinces are Bamyan, Samangan, Kapisa, Parwan and Panjshir.

Two former Taliban officials have topped the elections in the central Bamyan and northern Samangan provinces while a warlord Hajji Almas has secured the first position in Parwan.

Few women and less known aspirants in the above provinces have also won seats in the post-Taliban parliament expectedly convened in November.

Final results of Farah and Nimroz provinces were announced last week.

The elections in some polling stations had marred irregularities and prompted losing candidates to call for recounting of the votes.

Around 700 polling stations out of 26,259 polling stations, Richard confirmed, had been excluded from counting process due to fraud. In addition, 50 workers of the counting centers have been fired on charge of involvement in fraud in the counting process.

Richard confessed to irregularities but ruled out the possibility of recounting, and said the fraud will not undermine the integrity of the whole election.

Some 6.8 million, or over 50 percent of 12.5 million Afghans registered to vote, had used their franchise in the historic parliamentary polls amid tight security on Sept. 18 to elect their representatives for the 249-seat Wolesi Jirga or National Assembly and provincial councils.

Final certified results of the legislative polls, according to JEMB officials, will be announced by the end of the month.

Source: Xinhua