Karzai Widens Lead over Abdullah

Afghanistan's election commission says President Hamid Karzai has expanded his lead over top challenger Abdullah Abdullah.

The commission says Karzai has 44.8 per cent of ballots counted, while Abdullah has 35.1 per cent. The partial vote totals are based on only 17 per cent of the country's polling stations.

The commission plans to release partial results each day for the next several days. Final, certified results won't be made public until mid or late September.

Karzai would need to get more than 50 per cent of the vote to avoid a two-man runoff.

Meanwhile, a Taliban spokesman denied any responsibility Wednesday for a major bombing that killed dozens of people in southern Afghanistan's largest city, saying the militant group condemns the attack.

The explosion ripped through a central area of Kandahar city just after nightfall, killing at least 43 people and wounding 65, according to the Interior Ministry. It flattened buildings and sent flames shooting into the sky on the same day that the first preliminary results were released from last week's landmark presidential vote.

Read CBS News' Lara Logan's coverage of Afghanistan:
For Afghans, All That Glitters is Not Gold
Marines Work and Live Hard in Afghanistan
Marines Walk Tightrope of Death
What the Afghans Really Want