In an online message claiming to be from him, the Taliban commander said the Aug. 20 elections "were fraught with fraud and lies and which were categorically rejected by the people." He went on to warn the Taliban's "robust Jihadic movement" now on "the edge of victory" was "forging ahead like a powerful flood" against the foreign forces.

Two days earlier, a suicide Taliban car bomber slaughtered 26 people in Kabul, including six Italian soldiers. Prior to that, Omar's "robust Jihadic movement" members killed four U.S. and two British soldiers.

The reclusive Mullah's election assessment added to the post-election concerns of U.S. President Barack Obama's administration officials, already grappling with the increasing likelihood that a vast number of votes could be tossed out by the U.N.-backed Electoral Complaints Commission as it deals with a torrent of voter-fraud complaints. That could bring the entire election process into question, which is what the Taliban has been asserting all along, going even to the extent of chopping off the fingers of those who voted.

If all the suspicious votes get invalidated, Karzai's uncertified 54.6 percent victory margin could fall below the 50 percent mark, pushing him into a runoff with his nearest rival, former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah. But a runoff may not be possible before the onset of harsh winter lasting into next April, leaving the country without an effective government for months and giving the Taliban a freer rein to wreak more havoc in the country where the Karzai government is already seen as excessively corrupt and inept.

As things currently stand, election observers from the European Union have said about 1.5 million of the 5.6 million total votes cast in the elections were suspicious. EU observer Dimitra Ioannou said of those votes, 1.1 million were for Karzai and 300,000 for Abdullah.

The observers said if the Afghanistan Independent Election Commission had identified and rejected the faked votes, Karzai's vote count would fall to 47 percent, requiring a runoff, the Times of London reported.

"Large-scale ballot stuffing has taken place at the polling station level and all those results were entered into the system, at the tally center in Kabul, and published as good results," the Times quoted EU's Chief Observer Philippe Morillon as saying. "We will not make the choice of who your next president is, but refuse to be complicit in any massive fraud."

In his news conference last week, Karzai, while not publicly claiming victory in his second-term bid, denied any major fraud and expressed shock over the EU observers' comments.

Karzai said any fraud must be investigated "fairly and without prejudice," but added he believed "firmly in the integrity of the election and the integrity of the Afghan people, and the integrity of the government in that process." His campaign officials said only a "miracle" could deny Karzai an outright victory.

But the growing prospect of such a "miracle" forcing a runoff is what is worrying U.S. officials.

These officials told The New York Times a runoff delay until next spring would further complicate the Obama administration's task of confronting the escalating Taliban violence in Afghanistan in the midst of rising skepticism at home about committing more U.S. troops in that country.

"There is an exquisite dilemma here," Bruce Riedel at the Brookings Institution told The New York Times. He said a runoff would be preferable to a discredited first-round Karzai win, but if the vote is put off until next spring, the administration would have to deal with interim leaders who would be much less helpful in promoting U.S. priorities.

Seen in this context, the purported Mullah Omar message sounds even more ominous. "Today we have strong determination, military training and effective weapons. Still more, we have preparedness for a long war, and the regional situation is in our favor," it said.

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