CAIRO — Egypt’s military rulers claimed the surprisingly heavy turnout for the first elections since Hosni Mubarak’s ouster was proof of popular support for a democratic transition plan.

Long lines formed for a second day of voting today and the head of the election commission, Abdel-Mooaez Ibrahim, said turnout so far had been “massive and unexpected.”

The turnout boosts the military council after protests that erupted on Nov. 19 in Cairo’s Tahrir Square and other cities, denouncing the ruling generals and demanding they transfer power immediately to a civilian authority.

Maj. Gen. Mukhtar al-Mulla, a member of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, said the vote for a parliament “responds to all those who were skeptical that elections will take place on time.”

NATO might have been lured into raidWASHINGTON — NATO forces might have been lured into attacking friendly Pakistani border posts in a calculated maneuver by the Taliban, according to preliminary U.S. military reports on the deadliest friendly fire incident with Pakistan since the Afghanistan war began.The NATO airstrike killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in an apparent case of mistaken identity.A joint U.S.-Afghan patrol was attacked by the Taliban early Saturday morning. While pursuing the enemy, the patrol seems to have mistaken one of the Pakistan troop outposts for a militant encampment and called in a NATO gunship and attack helicopters to open fire.U.S. officials say the reports suggest the Taliban might have deliberately tried to provoke the incident.