Kabul: Afghan presidential contender Abdullah Abdullah's camp rejected preliminary results of the country's election as a "coup" against the people, putting him on a dangerous collision course with his rival, Ashraf Ghani.

The Independent Election Commission on Monday announced that Dr Ghani won the June 14 run-off poll with 56.44 per cent of the vote, according to preliminary results. The tally might change when the final official numbers come out on July 22.

Supporters of Ashraf Ghani dance in the street after the announcement of preliminary results. Credit:Reuters

The commission reported that Dr Ghani was more than 1 million votes ahead of Dr Abdullah, with a total of more than 8.1 million votes counted. That tally was far higher than previously estimated, and immediately cast even more doubt on an election already marred by weeks of conflict and accusations.

Dr Abdullah's camp responded angrily, saying the result was invalid as it did not throw out all the fraudulent votes.