President Ashraf Ghani ordered the termination of two major mining contracts – for Balkhab copper deposit in Sar-e-Pul province and for a gold deposit in Badakshan -- during a High Economic Council meeting last week.

The order was confirmed by Abdul Qadir Mutfi, a spokesman for the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum.

Discussions at the Independent Election Commission, or IEC, are underway to prepare the announcement of the election’s preliminary results, following the recount of votes in 27 out of 34 provinces. Details about the announcement will be made this evening, Commissioner Esmatullah Mal confirmed.

The election commission has recounted votes from over 7,000 polling stations in 27 provinces out of a total of 8,300 polling stations in 34 provinces. In seven provinces, supporters of some election campaign teams have prevented the recounting process.