KABUL, Oct 9: Demonstrations by candidates and their supporters shut down on Sunday two centres counting ballots from Afghanistan’s vote last month for the first parliament in more than three decades, the electoral authority said.

A centre in the eastern city of Jalalabad closed after it was stormed by hundreds of candidates who demanded ballot boxes put into quarantine because of suspected fraud be opened for counting, an election official in the city said.

The counting centre in the northern city of Kunduz was also closed after a similar demonstration on Saturday, election authority spokesman Aleem Siddique said.

“We will reopen when we can ensure that public order is maintained,” he said.

The country’s 32 counting centres have finished tallying the bulk of the votes.—AFP