With ballots still being counted, one of the men running for the presidency of Afghanistan, Abdullah Abdullah, has dropped out of the election process, claiming fraud.

A week after the second round of elections that will determine who will be the country's new president, the vote counting continues but Abdullah, former Foreign Affairs Minister, removed his delegates from the election counting process. He has blamed the current administration, his opponent and the election commission of fraud.

Any election result announced by the commission, Abdullah said, will not be recognized by his campaign. However, the U.N. has asked him to return to the election process, claiming it the only legitimate manner to transfer power.

"We believe that the task ahead of us is to have the candidates re-engage fully in the electoral process," U.N. deputy chief Nicholas Haysom told reporters in Kabul, according to Reuters. "We would want to emphasize that there is no other way of electing a legitimate leader."

His opponent, former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, has said he will continue to support the election process and greater transparency but is against the idea of foreigners participating in the election process.

"We respect the role of the U.N. ... But any solution should be Afghan-led and shouldn't affect the work of the Independent Election Commission and Complaints Commission," spokesman Abbas Noyan said.

U.N. intervention has been proposed by Abdullah and has now also been supported by outgoing President Karzai. Despite previously opposing international intrusion in the elections, claiming it to be an Afghan-only affair, he has now backed down in light of the increasing tension and rising violence. A shootout happened between supports of both parties earlier this week.

Karzai met with U.N. envoy to Afghanistan Jan Kubis to discuss the international organization's involvement. Karzai said the U.N.'s involvement would be "a good step toward ending the problems because any organization that can help Afghanistan in this issue is appreciated," according to The New York Times.

As NATO troops prepare to leave the country at the end of the year, widespread suspicion of these elections and Abdullah's decision to leave could derail hopes for a peaceful transition. Protesters who support the former Foreign Affairs Minister blocked various Kabul streets, screaming fraud and saying that the election commission is in favor of his opponent.

Fears have begun to emerge that the elections could devolve into sectarian violence since the two leaders running are from different tribes. Ghani is from the dominant Pashtun tribe, while Abdullah belongs to the Tajik minority. Abdullah has argued that in certain provinces there have been more votes than voters and considers the Independent Election Commission "illegitimate."