KABUL, August 26 (RIA Novosti) - Afghanistan's incumbent president, Hamid Karzai, has a 10% lead over his nearest rival after 17.2% of the vote in last week's presidential polls have been counted, election officials said Wednesday.

Daud Najafi, the chief electoral officer, told journalists in Kabul that with 998,484 ballot papers counted, Karzai has 422,137 votes (44.8%) to former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah's 35.1%.

A candidate needs 50% of the vote to claim victory without a runoff.

Election day was plagued by militant attacks, with some 400 registered across the country.

A total of 38,160 papers were ruled invalid, and 18,527 votes were cast for candidates who withdrew their candidacies shortly before the vote.

Final figures are due in early September.