Afghanistan's top prosecutor announced a new investigation Wednesday into allegations of ballot manipulation, potentially dealing another setback to a fraud-marred parliamentary election just as many had hoped a declaration of final results would allow the country to move on.

The Afghan election commission, meanwhile, certified tallies from 33 of 34 provinces but failed to deliver on a promise to provide complete results more than two months after the Sept. 18 poll.

The election panel said it had not decided what to do about the eastern province of Ghazni, where a host of problems clouded the ballot even after substantial investigations. Other than the delay in the Ghazni results, the winners were unchanged since fraud investigators announced a number of disqualified candidates earlier this week.

The twin developments were the latest problems to overshadow the balloting that has been seen as a test of Afghan President Hamid Karzai's commitment to reforming his corruption-ridden government since he was re-elected last year in a vote that was itself heavily tainted by fraud. The allegations last year nearly undermined the legitimacy of Karzai's government and pushed some NATO countries to threaten to pull troops and aid.

Amid the political uncertainty, violence has been on the rise in Afghanistan.

Insurgents killed five village elders in an ambush Wednesday in northern Afghanistan, NATO reported, underscoring fears that violence is spreading from more volatile areas.

The men were traveling through Faryab province, which borders Turkmenistan when their vehicle was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade, the alliance said in a statement. Four other elders were wounded in the attack.