The United States has brokered a deal to resolve a political crisis in Afghanistan over last month’s disputed presidential elections. Preliminary results show former World Bank official Ashraf Ghani beating opponent Abdullah Abdullah by about a million votes. Abdullah’s supporters have protested, calling the results a “coup” and claiming widespread fraud. After two days of talks, Secretary of State John Kerry appeared with both candidates to announce a full audit of all eight million votes.

Secretary of State John Kerry: “This is unquestionably a tense and difficult moment, but I am very pleased that the two candidates who stand here with me today and President Karzai have stepped up and shown a significant commitment to compromise. With respect to national unity, both candidates have agreed to abide by the results of the audit and that the winner of the election will serve as president and will immediately form a government of national unity.”

The agreement follows a power dispute that saw Abdullah threatening to form his own government. New figures from the U.N. show more than 1,500 civilians have been killed in Afghanistan this year, an increase of 17 percent.