BRAZZAVILLE -- Angry young voters invaded polling booths in Brazzaville on Sunday and tore up ballot papers amid charges of electoral fraud in Congo's parliamentary elections aimed at ending years of conflict and economic disaster, AFP reported.

Voters seized ballot boxes from three polling stations in the north of the capital of Congo, smaller neighbor of the vast Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to the east.

Several polling booths closed early Sunday because of the disturbances.

"We closed the booth because we were invaded by more than 100 young people who took ballot papers from the ballot boxes and tore them up," one polling booth manager said.

The elections are intended to lay to rest years of conflict and mend a devastated economy and society in the Central African country, where some 70 percent of people live below the poverty line.

More than half the youth, who form two-thirds of the country's three millions, are unemployed.

Some of the demonstrations were apparently in protest against alleged attempted electoral fraud by by the Congolese Labour Party.

Other young voters were enraged at being turned away because they could not show identity papers.

"We were instructed to bar voters who did not have their national identity cards, even though they are on the electoral lists and have voting cards," said another polling station official.

"The young people did not accept that. They invaded the polling stations and took away everything: ballot boxes, ink, electoral list, seals," he said.

"Dozens of young people... took away the ballot boxes at three polling stations," he added. "They threatened to kill me." Chief of Staff General Yvon Jacques Ndolou warned against disorder and ordered his troops to show firmness.

During a referendum on Congo's new constitution in January and the presidential election in March, voters could cast ballots after showing their birth certificates if they were on the voters' rolls.