At least 31 people have been killed after a suicide bomber attacked a polling station in Pakistan’s city of Quetta. The blast occurred on the day of the country's general election, whose candidates include former cricketer Imran Khan and the party of jailed ex-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

A SUICIDE bomber on a motorcycle rammed into people waiting outside a busy polling station in the Pakistani city of Quetta, killing at least 31 and casting a dark shadow on what was to be a historic day for the country as Pakistanis cast ballots to elect their third consecutive civilian government.

The attack in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province, underscored the difficulties this majority Muslim nation faces on its wobbly journey toward sustained democracy.

The bombing also wounded 35 people, with several reported to be in critical condition, raising concerns the death toll could rise further, said hospital official Jaffar Kakar, a doctor.

As polls closed, Pakistan’s Election Commission spokesman Nadeem Qasim said that the commission had issued a notice to aspiring prime minister Imran Khan saying his vote could be disqualified after he cast his ballot in front of television cameras, violating “the secrecy of the ballot paper.”

Mr Qasim said Khan violated Pakistan’s constitution, which guarantees the secrecy of the ballot. Images showed a smiling Khan with his ballot paper laid out in front of him as he marked the ballot.

Voting for a National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, and four provincial assemblies followed a rancorous campaign marked by widespread allegations of manipulation.

Analysts and rights groups have warned of post-election instability and predicted losing parties would cry foul.

The uncertainty of the outcome of the vote — no single party appeared assured of a simple majority win — could also lead to prolonged post-election jockeying that would hamper the forming of the next government.

“Whatever way elections run, I see a lot of instability,” said defence analyst Ayesha Siddiqua, who authored Military In., a look at the extensive financial holdings of Pakistan’s army.

A witness to the attack in Quetta, Abdul Haleem, who was waiting to cast his ballot, said he saw a motorcycle drive into the crowd of voters just seconds before the explosion.

Mr Haleem’s uncle was killed in the blast.

“There was a deafening bang followed by thick cloud of smoke and dust and so much crying from the wounded people,” he said.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for the explosion, according to the group’s AMAQ news agency.

The group said the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber, but did not provide further detail or evidence for its claim.

Baluchistan also saw the worst violence during election campaigning earlier this month, when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a political rally, killing 149 people, including the candidate Siraj Raisani. Another 400 were wounded. Voting in that constituency has been suspended.

IS claimed responsibility for that attack, though Baluchistan has seen relentless attacks, both by the province’s secessionists and Sunni militants who have killed hundreds of Shiites living there.

Militants lobbed grenades and opened fire at a military convoy escorting election staffers and voting material in Baluchistan’s district of Turbat, killing four troops. Pakistan’s military deployed 350,000 troops countrywide at polling stations.

Also Wednesday, shooting between supporters of two opposing political parties killed one person and wounded two in a village near the northwestern city of Swabi.

Later, more clashes between rival political parties killed another person and wounded 15 elsewhere in the country.

Early voting was heavy at some polling stations in Islamabad, the capital, and also in the Punjab provincial capital, with several political party leaders standing in line to cast their ballots.

Local television reported scattered incidences of police arresting people with pre-marked ballots. Another concern is the unprecedented participation in these elections of radical religious groups, including those banned for terror links but resurrected and renamed, has also raised concerns — especially for minorities and women — ahead of the voting.

Jibran Nasir, an independent candidate from Pakistan’s financial hub of Karachi, said he received death threats and even had a fatwa, or religious edict, issued against him after he refused to condemn Ahmadis, reviled by mainstream Muslims as heretics because they believe the messiah promised in Islam arrived over a century ago. Pakistan in 1974 declared Ahmadis non-Muslims.

The leading contenders in Wednesday’s polling are former cricket star Imran Khan and his right-of-centre Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Party, and the right-of-centre Pakistan Muslim League, the party of disgraced Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who is in jail serving 10 years on corruption charges. His younger brother Shahbaz Sharif took control of the party.

Khan’s supporters showered his vehicle with rose petals as he arrived to vote at a polling station near his home suburb in. Islamabad.

After voting, he appealed on Pakistanis to come out and vote in huge numbers “to save future generations.”

The third-largest party in the running is the left-leaning Pakistan People’s Party, headed by Bilawal Bhutto, the son of late Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, assassinated by the Pakistani Taliban, whom she had vowed to eradicate.

Election officials say more than 11,000 candidates are vying for 270 seats in Pakistan’s lawmaking Lower House of Parliament and 577 seats in four provincial assemblies.

There are more than 105 million eligible voters in Pakistan, 59 million men and 46 million women.

Pakistan’s election commission reminded candidates their elections will be nullified if the female voter turnout didn’t reach 10 per cent. The requirement was imposed after the 2013 elections, when several areas banned voting by women, mostly in Pakistan’s religiously conservative northwest. Some candidates were elected without a single woman marking a ballot.

International and domestic election observers will monitor the voting.

The European Union Election Observation Mission has 120 monitors at polling stations in major centres across Pakistan, with the exception of Baluchistan.

Under Pakistani law, separate seats are reserved for women and for non-Muslim minorities, which comprise 4 per cent of the population.</s>ISLAMABAD – Pakistan’s cricket star turned politician Imran Khan declared victory Thursday for his party in the country’s general elections, promising a “new” Pakistan following a vote that was marred by allegations of fraud and militant violence.

Khan, who aspires to be the country’s next prime minister, said in a televised address to the nation that “thanks to God, we won and we were successful.”

“If God wills, we will set an example,” he added.

Pakistan’s election commission has not yet released official, final results but Khan has maintained a commanding lead according to projections by many television stations, though it’s unclear if his Tehreek-e-Insaf party, or PTI, would get a simple majority or have to form a coalition govrnment.

More: Cricket star is a front-runner to become Pakistan's next prime minister

Election officials said an official count confirming Pakistan’s next government was expected later in the evening.

Khan’s message of a “new” Pakistan resonated with young voters in a country where 64 per cent of its 200 million people are below the age of 30, according to a United Nations report.

More than a dozen TV channels in Pakistan, based on official but partial counts, were projecting – using their own, undisclosed methodologies – that Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party is getting as many as 119 seats of the 270 National Assembly seats that were contested.

The remainder in the 342-seat Lower House of Parliament includes reserved seats for women and minorities. Voting for two seats was postponed after one candidate died during the campaign and another was disqualified.

But before even half the votes were counted, Khan’s leading rival Shahbaz Sharif, who heads the Pakistan Muslim League – the party of jailed ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif – rejected the vote, generating fears that disgruntled losers could delay the formation of the next government. Television projections give his party hardly 61 seats.

In a tweet on his official page, Sharif said “our democratic process has been pushed back by decades,” adding that “had the public mandate been delivered in a fair manner, we would have accepted it happily.”

Complaints have also emerged from the independent Human Rights Commission, which issued a statement saying that in some places women were not allowed to vote.

In other areas, it said, “polling staff appeared to be biased toward a certain party,” without naming the party. In the days before Wednesday’s election, leading rights activist I.A. Rehman called the campaign “the dirtiest” in his country’s troubled journey toward sustained democracy.

Analysts have expressed concern that disgruntled losers could create instability for the incoming new government, which will face mounting challenges – including a crumbling economy, a crippling debt and a raging militancy.

As voting got underway on Wednesday in the southwestern city of Quetta, the Baluchistan provincial capital, militants sent a suicide bomber to a crowding polling station to carry out a deadly attack that killed 31 people.

The election, in which Pakistanis voted for the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, and the four provincial assemblies, marked only the second time in Pakistan’s 71-year history that one civilian government has handed power to another in the country of 200 million people.

Yet there have been widespread concerns during the election campaign about manipulation by the military, which has directly or indirectly ruled Pakistan for most of its existence. The military had deployed 350,000 troops at the 85,000 polling stations.

In a tweet on his official account, Pakistan’s military spokesman Gen. Asif Ghafoor called accusations of interference “malicious propaganda.”

Baluchistan also saw the worst violence during campaigning earlier this month, when a suicide bomber struck at a political rally, killing 149 people, including the candidate Siraj Raisani. Another 400 were wounded. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for that attack. Baluchistan has been roiled by relentless attacks, both by the province’s secessionists and Sunni militants who have killed hundreds of Shiites there.

Throughout the night and into Thursday, Khan supporters celebrated outside party offices countrywide. Most of the revelers were young men, who danced to the sound of beating drums draped in Tehreek-e-Insaf party black and green-colored flags.</s>Pakistan Election Results 2018 latest updates: According to Pakistan's Geo News, Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leads in 84 seats, Nawaz Sharif's PML-N leads in 58 seats and PPP at 26.

The unofficial results on the local Pakistan TV channels show an early lead across the country for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led by crickter-turned-politician Imran Khan. Imran, the key campaigner in the Wednesday’s poll, is leading across the Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provinces defeating ousted PM Nawaz Sharif's PML-N in his stronghold Punjab province and expected to win in the polls. Punjab, the most important battleground, has maximum constituencies total 141 elected National Assembly seats and makes more than half of the total 272 elected seats in the National Assembly.

Imran Khan's PTI has taken a lead in NA-54 Islamabad-III and NA-117, Nankana Sahib-I seats in Punjab province, which is considered a bastion of the PML-N.

PTI is leading on 90 National Assembly (NA) seats followed by PML-N which is ahead on 60 seats. In Punjab both parties are seeing a close contest while in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP), PTI is all set to regain the territory it ruled during the last five years.

According to latest reports in Pakistan media, PTI chief Imran Khan is leading with 762 votes with 182 votes for PML-N’s Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in NA-53 Islamabad-II. According to Samaa TV, PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari is leading with 3,461 votes in NA-213 Nawabshah. GDA’s Sheer Muhammad Rind is second with 558 votes.

According to latest reports in Pakistan media, Imran Khan's PTI is leading in 12 seats. Nawaz Sharif's PML-N is leading in five seats out of 33, unofficial reports at Samaa TV claimed.

PTI chairman Imran Khan is leading in NA-95 Mianwali seat, Geo News reported citing unofficial results. Khan also maintains a lead in Islamabad II (NA-17) seat, according to PTV.

Pakistani media has reported that PTI's Omar Ayub Khan has taken lead over PML-N's Babar Nawaz Khan in NA-17. Reports also claimed that PTI’s Muhammad Shafiq is leading in NA-161 Lodhran-2.

Several channels and media reports said that the counting of votes has begun in Pakistan. Polling in Pakistan concluded at 6 pm Pakistan Standard Time. Pakistan's Election Commission has denied the PML-N's request to extend the deadline for polling until 7 pm.

Even after the official voting time ended large queues were still being witnessed in many areas of the country, including Punjab and Sindh. However, the poll panel has said that only those people who entered the premises of polling stations will be allowed to vote.

Election Commission of Pakistan has issued a notice to Imran Khan for alleged breach of secrecy of ballot by stamping on ballot in public view. He has been asked to appear before the commission on 30 July at 10 am.The Shehbaz Sharif-led party had said that delays in voting has caused inconvenience to people standing in long queues, and sought a one-hour extension under Article 70 of the Election Act 2017.

Transgenders, who are working as election observers, complained of harassment in Pakistan. They were reportedly denied entry in a polling station in Afghan Colony and Faqirabad locality of Peshawar. Women in Dir made history on Wednesday by voting for the first time in the history of country.

Voting has resumed at Quetta's Tameer-e-Nau Model School polling station, which was earlier rocked by a suicide blast that left 31 dead, reported Dawn.

Pakistan election commission has decided to proceed against politicians who talked to media — PTI chief Imran Khan is also facing electoral body’s disciplinary action. The commission has termed this violation of its code of ethics. Media houses will also be served notices, say ECP officials. Express News reported that his vote may be cancelled as he violated the "secrecy of ballot" rule after his voting exercise was captured on video.

With Wednesday's attack in Quetta, the death toll from election-related violence in last two weeks in run up to the Pakistan polls reached 203, with the same number of people injured. Earlier, an attack also took place in Mastung area of Balochistan in which 149 people were killed in a suicide blast.

A Pakistan hospital official says an explosion outside crowded polling station in southwestern city of Quetta has killed 25 people and wounded 40. Jaffer Kakar, a doctor, says five policemen and two children are among the dead. He fears the death toll could rise as many of the wounded are in critical condition.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan cast his vote at Dhoke Jilani polling station in NA-53 Islamabad. He urged people to come out and vote.

The death toll has risen to 22 people and 28 injured in a blast in Quetta's Eastern Bypass area. Injured have been hospitalised at the Civil Hospital. Meanwhile, the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) has directed the private satellite TV channels to stop airing any content related to Pakistan's 11th general election.

The blast, which took place in NA-264 Quetta, Pakistan, has left at least 10 dead, including two security officials, and more than 15 injured, including security personnel. The blast took place near a police vehicle close to a polling station.

Meanwhile, LeT chief Hafiz Saeed cast his vote in Lahore. A new entrant in the fray this year is Milli Muslim League, the political front of blacklisted Islamic organisation Jamat-ud Dawa, which in turn is purportedly the charitable front of militant organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba. The party was founded in 2017 with the intention to make Pakistan "a truly Islamic and welfare state." After the ECP denied recognition to the MML, JuD chief Saeed announced that around 200 candidates of his party would contest the polls under the banner of a little-known party, the Allah-o-Akbar Tehreek (AAT), which is already registered with the election commission.

A blast has been heard in Quetta's Eastern Bypass area in Pakistan. Several people are reportedly injured, according to news reports. Police and rescue teams have rushed to the site.

On Wednesday, 9.15 am, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Swabi district, ANP workers fired at PTI workers which left one PTI worker dead and three injured. The names of the injured are: Muktair, Saleem, Shahzad, while Shazaib is the name of the deceased.

Firing has been reported from Swabi district in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Three people have reportedly been killed in the incident. Meanwhile, Ayaz Sadiq, the speaker of the National Assembly and PML-N candidate of NA-129 Lahore, told reporters that the voting process was going on at a snail's speed.

According to reports, power outage delayed voting across several polling stations in Peshawar in Pakistan, which resulted in difficulties for women voters and election staff.

Polling has yet to begin in Lahore's NA-128 polling stations as the staff is yet to reach the venue, reported Dawn. According to the Pakistani daily, voting in Nawabshah too did not begin on time, as election agents were not allowed to enter the polling station.

Voting across 270 National Assembly and 577 general seats to provincial assemblies in Pakistan has begun. In all, 10,59,55,409 voters will cast their votes in 840 constituencies of the National Assembly and four provincial assemblies of the country.

Elections have been postponed in eight national and provincial assembly constituencies in Pakistan which goes to the polls today, according to a media report. In one of the constituencies, a candidate had been disqualified while in the other seven, the contesting candidates had passed away, the Express Tribune reported.

Pakistan is set to elect its next civilian government at the national and provincial level. The Pakistan general election, which has been marred with controversies, allegations of military interventions and terrorist attacks on candidates, will finally conclude on Wednesday with counting the same day. The election is also important as while the national parties will be testing their reach, radical groups like Allah-o-Takbeer—a political front of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD)—and several others like it are contesting the elections with the promise of bringing a Sharia government in Pakistan.

According to the Election Commission Pakistan (ECP), polling will start at 8 am (8.30 am IST) today and will go on till 6 pm (6.30 pm IST). The counting of votes usually begins soon after polling is concluded. This year too, the ECP is likely to follow a similar schedule despite an hour's extension in polling.

The results, along with who is in the lead and who is trailing, begin to emerge around 11 pm. Counting, however, goes on till 1-2 am. The disputed seats are counted again the next day, and the result is officially declared by 1 or 2 pm the next day.

On 25 July, Pakistan will seal the future of over 95 political parties, which are in the fray for 272 seats in the National Assembly, and to form governments at the provincial level.

At the national level, a party needs to win 172 seats to form a government on its own. The main competition—both at the national and provincial level—will be between the incumbent Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), former cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the Bilawal Bhutto Zardari-led Pakistan People's Party and independent candidates. The latter could play the role of power brokers, as they did in the 2013 polls.

There are also regional parties and alliances, such as the Grand Democratic Alliance (GAD) formed by five political parties — Pir Paghara's Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F), Quami Awami Tehreek (QAT), National People's Party (NPP), Pakistan People's Party Workers (PPPW) and People's Muslim League Pakistan (PML-P); extremist groups such as the revived Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), Jamaat-e-Islami, Allah-o-Akbar Tehreek (a political wing of the JuD and a front of the Lashkar-e-Taiba). The GAD is likely to play spoilsport for the PPP as it contains several defectors from the party. As for hardcore religious groups like the Jamaat-e-Islamia and Allah-o-Akbar-Tehreek, they can dent the PML-N's conservative vote bank.

Then there are regional parties such as the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) and the Awami National Party (ANP) of Bacha Khan's followers. Presenting a stiff competition to Imran's PTI in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is the Balochistan National Party (BNP).

According to data from the Election Commission of Pakistan, about 3,675 candidates are fighting for seats in the National Assembly, and about 8,895 are in the fray for the legislatures of all four provinces.

After ousted Pakistan prime minister and PML-N supreme leader Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz had to drop out of the political race, following their conviction in the Avenfield reference, Nawaz's brother Shehbaz Sharif emerged as PML-N's prime ministerial face. Shehbaz, former chief minister of Punjab, is known for his administrative abilities, but he has yet to emerge as a top contender against Imran. With Nawaz out of the way, the cricketer-turned-politician appears to have no contender.

PPP's Bilawal has a following, but he has not proved his mettle as an able leader yet. PPP, as well as regional parties, may gain prominence only if there is no clear mandate. In case an alliance is formed, irrespective of which parties come together — there are reports of a PPP-PTI alliance — it is unlikely that Bilawal will get preference over Shehbaz or Imran. So far, the only top contenders for the prime minister's post are Shehbaz and Imran. The other candidates to watch out for are Bilawal's father Asif Ali Zardari and former Pakistan prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi. As leaders engage in mudslinging and lash out at each other over remarks or controversies, a lot of issues have been highlighted during the Pakistan election campaigns, ranging from the state of the economy to the dangerous trend of threatening and attacking journalists, military intervention, water supply, healthcare, terrorism and foreign policy. Corruption may just be the most important election issue this time. Most prominent Pakistani politicians are either talking about ending corruption or are involved in corruption-related controversies themselves. While Imran has been banking on Nawaz and Maryam's conviction in the Avenfield reference as a major win against corruption and has also been promising to put other corrupt leaders behind bars, his alleged misuse of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government's helicopters and the mega Bus Rapid Transport project in the province has come under the National Accountability Bureau's scanner. On the other hand, PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto lashed out at Imran for speaking out against corruption. He accused the PTI chief of being corrupt himself. "Up till now, Nawaz was defaming politics, but now Imran Niazi has taken up this task (sic)," Geo TV quoted Bhutto as saying. Relations with India is another major poll issue. Religious radical parties in Pakistan are rousing anti-India sentiments and making it a poll issue against PML-N candidates as well as Imran, whose anti-India stand has become a major poll rhetoric to sway the youth. Fears have also mounted over Pakistan's economic stability before the elections, as the caretaker government pledged to stem the current account deficit by using rapidly dwindling foreign currency reserves, reported AFP. There is growing speculation that the country will have to seek a loan package from the International Monetary Fund after the elections — for the second time since 2013 — amid fears of a balance of payments crisis. "We have to finance this gap of the trade deficit of $25 billion by depleting our reserves. There is no other option," caretaker finance minister Shamshad Akhtar said at a press conference. "This is a major worry for our government." Terrorism is another major issue in the region, which has affected not just civilians but politicians alike. While political rallies and candidates of the Awami National Party in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Balochistan Awami Party in Balochistan were attacked mostly because of their anti-terrorism stand, most recently, Imran's PTI, have made it clear that not even those who share a good rapport with radicals are not safe in Pakistan. Then there's the issue of the safety and security of journalists and the Pakistan Army and ISI's relentless meddling into State affairs.</s>A Pakistan hospital official says an explosion outside crowded polling station in southwestern city of Quetta has killed 25 people and wounded 40. Jaffer Kakar, a doctor, says five policemen and two children are among the dead. He fears the death toll could rise as many of the wounded are in critical condition.

Wednesday's attack comes as Pakistanis vote in general elections for 270 members of the law-making National Assembly, or lower house of parliament, and 577 seats in four provincial assemblies.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the explosion.

Abdur Razzaq Cheema, the police chief in Quetta, Baluchistan's provincial capital, says the explosion took place when near the city's eastern bypass.

Baluchistan also saw the deadliest suicide bombing in the run-up to election day, with 149 people, including a provincial assembly candidate, killed at a campaign this month.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>July 26 (UPI) -- Former cricket star Imran Khan, leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, is headed for victory according to preliminary election results Thursday.

With 49 percent of the votes counted, Khan's PTI party was in the lead with 119 of the 272 National Assembly constituencies, election officials said.

A total of 137 seats is required for a majority.

More than 30 political parties and 12,570 candidates competed for the support of 106 million registered voters in Wednesday's election, which determines the national and four provincial assemblies.

The victory is not yet recognized by the outgoing Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, which claims the results are rigged and accuses election officials of preventing its representatives from overseeing the count.

The Election Commission of Pakistan refuted the claims and said a glitch in the new electronic system delayed the vote count, but the election results are "100 percent fair and transparent."

The vote has been marred by violence. Wednesday, dozens of people were killed when a bomb went off near a Quetta polling station.

The blast, targeting a police convoy, killed two police officers and injured 40 people just hours after polls opened. Authorities reported at least 29 dead.

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was arrested this month after on charges of owning assets beyond income and failing to cooperate with Pakistan's National Accountability Bureau.</s>Hours after the polls opened, a suicide bomber on a motorcycle detonated his explosives in a crowd waiting to vote in the southwestern city of Quetta. In addition to the 31 dead, the attack wounded 35 people, said Dr Jaffar Kakar, a hospital official. No one immediately claimed responsibility, but local officials were quick to blame the Islamic State group. The attack in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province, underscored the difficulties the majority Muslim nation faces on its wobbly journey toward sustained democracy. Baluchistan also saw the worst violence during campaigning earlier this month, when a suicide bomber struck at a political rally, killing 149 people, including the candidate Siraj Raisani. Another 400 were wounded. IS claimed responsibility for that attack. Baluchistan has seen relentless attacks, both by the province's secessionists and Sunni militants who have killed hundreds of Shiites there. The military deployed 350,000 troops at polling stations across the country.

Moeed Yusuf, associate vice president of the Asia Center at the Washington-based US Institute of Peace, said politically motivated mob violence is rare in Pakistan, while on Wednesday's attack in Baluchistan appeared to be the work of a terrorist group. "Terrorist violence is a different issue altogether and is unlikely to affect political stability," Yusuf said. "Unfortunately, Pakistanis have gone through so much violence that they are desensitized to it." Yusuf said the top challenge for the next government will be the economic crisis. "The new government is going to be in an unenviable position, and especially Imran Khan, as he is not the preferred prime minister for Pakistan's two traditional chief patrons, China and the U.S."

Khan has been an outspoken critic of the US-led war in neighboring Afghanistan as well as China's massive investment in Pakistan, which has racked up millions of dollars in debt to Beijing. Khan's supporters showered his vehicle with rose petals as he arrived to vote near his home in the capital of Islamabad. Afterward, he appealed to Pakistanis to vote in huge numbers "to save future generations." As polls closed, Election Commission spokesman Nadeem Qasim told The Associated Press that the commission had told Khan that his vote could be disqualified because he cast his ballot in front of TV cameras, violating constitutional provisions on "the secrecy of the ballot paper." Video images showed a smiling Khan with his ballot in front of him as he marked it. As early results gave Khan an edge, Maryam Aurangzeb of Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League raised the first allegations of ballot fraud and warned that his supporters might revolt if the charges prove correct. "We will not allow anyone to steal the mandate the nation has given to us," she told a news conference. "So far, we are controlling our supporters, but we won't be able to convince them to exercise restraint if the results were manipulated against our party."

As voting ended, festive supporters of both parties gathered outside polling stations, dancing to the beat of drums. The third-largest party is the left-leaning Pakistan People's Party, headed by Bilawal Bhutto, the son of late Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, assassinated by the Pakistani Taliban, whom she had vowed to eradicate. More than 11,000 candidates are vying for 270 seats in Pakistan's law-making National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, and 577 seats in four provincial assemblies. Under Pakistani law, separate seats are reserved for women and for non-Muslim minorities, which comprise 4 per cent of the population. The 85,307 polling stations were open for 10 hours, an hour longer than in 2013. Voting for two parliamentary seats and six seats in provincial assemblies has been postponed due to attacks on candidates or disqualifications. Final results are expected early Thursday. There are more than 105 million eligible voters - 59 million men and 46 million women.

Election officials reminded candidates their results will be nullified if the female voter turnout didn't reach 10 per cent. The requirement was imposed after the 2013 elections, when several areas banned voting by women, mostly in the religiously conservative northwest. Some candidates won without a single woman marking a ballot. Rights activist Tahira Abdullah said on Tuesday that local jirgas, or councils of elders, from 60 areas representing 16 different constituencies had signed agreements banning women from voting despite the new ruling. Women voted for the first time on Wednesday in Pakistan's deeply tribal and religiously conservative North Waziristan, where Taliban insurgents have found safe havens. "We made history today," said Mohamad Ayaz Khan, a government administrator. "It is the first time that women have come out of their homes to cast their vote." Voting is segregated by gender throughout Pakistan at every polling station.

Early voting was heavy at some sites in Islamabad and also in the Punjab provincial capital, with several political party leaders lining up to cast ballots. Local TV reported scattered incidents of police arresting people with pre-marked ballots. A concern is the unprecedented participation of radical religious groups, including those banned for links to terrorism but resurrected under different names. That has led to worry by minorities and women ahead of the voting. Jibran Nasir, an independent candidate from the financial hub of Karachi, said he received death threats and even had a fatwa, or religious edict, issued against him. He had refused to condemn Ahmadis, reviled by mainstream Muslims as heretics because they believe the messiah promised in Islam arrived over a century ago. In 1974, Pakistan declared Ahmadis to be non-Muslims. International and domestic election observers will monitor the voting. The European Union Election Observation Mission has 120 monitors in major centers across Pakistan, with the exception of Baluchistan. Also Wednesday, shooting between supporters of two opposing political parties killed one person and wounded two in a village near the northwestern city of Swabi. Later, more clashes between rival parties killed another person and wounded 15 elsewhere.</s>Votes are being counted in Pakistan following an election marred by allegations of fraud and militant violence.

Counting has been very slow, yet from the outset cricket star Imran Khan and his party have maintained a commanding lead.

Election officials said it will be Thursday evening before an official count confirms Pakistan’s next government.

But before even half the votes were counted, Mr Khan’s leading rival Shahbaz Sharif, who heads the Pakistan Muslim League, rejected the vote, generating fears that disgruntled losers could delay the formation of the next government.

The Pakistan Muslim League is the party of jailed ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif

The winner will face a crumbling economy and bloodshed by militants, who sent a suicide bomber to a crowded polling station in the south-western city of Quetta to carry out a deadly attack that killed 31 people.

The parliamentary balloting marked only the second time in Pakistan’s 71-year history that one civilian government has handed power to another in the country of 200 million people.

Yet there have been widespread concerns during the election campaign about manipulation by the military, which has directly or indirectly ruled Pakistan for most of its existence.

In a tweet on his official account, Pakistan’s military spokesman General Asif Ghafoor called accusations of interference “malicious propaganda”.

In the tweet, which featured a collage of pictures of Pakistanis handing military personnel at polling stations flowers and elderly women kissing soldiers, Gen Ghafoor wrote that the “world has seen your love and respect for Pak Armed Forces & LEAs (law enforcement agencies) today. U hv rejected all kinds of malicious propaganda”.

The military deployed 350,000 troops at the 85,000 polling stations. More than 11,000 candidates vied for 270 seats in the National Assembly, and 577 seats in four provincial assemblies.

The attack outside the polling station in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province, underscored the difficulties the majority Muslim nation faces on its journey towards sustained democracy.

Baluchistan also saw the worst violence during campaigning earlier this month, when a suicide bomber struck at a political rally, killing 149 people, including a candidate. Another 400 were wounded.

Throughout the night, Khan supporters celebrated outside party offices countrywide.

Mr Khan, who is a cricket star, has appealed to the youth with promises of a new Pakistan. According to the United Nations, 65% of Pakistan’s 200 million people are under 30.

Mr Khan has been an outspoken critic of the US-led war in neighbouring Afghanistan as well as China’s massive investment in Pakistan.</s>Islamabad: Pakistanis voted today in a tense election to choose a new government as at least 34 people were killed in a suicide blast and poll-related violence, amidst charges of manipulation by the powerful Army and concerns over the participation of Islamic hardliners.

Hours after polling began for the general elections, a suicide blast hit Bhosa Mandi area of Balochistan’s provincial capital, Quetta, killing 31 people.

In separate incidents, three persons were killed in poll-related violence outside polling stations. Clashes erupted between rival parties outside several polling stations, reports said.

Nearly 106 million people are registered to vote for members of the lower house of parliament and four provincial assemblies. The election marks the second democratic transition of power in the nation’s 70-year history.

According to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), 3,459 candidates are contesting for 272 general seats of the National Assembly, while 8,396 candidates are running for 577 general seats of the four provincial assemblies – Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

The voting started at 8 AM local time on more than 85,000 polling stations. The counting of votes will be done on the spot soon after the conclusion of the polling process at 6 PM and results will be announced within 24 hours.

While polling stations officially opened for voting at 8 AM, enthusiastic citizens queued up outside their respective stations as early as 7 AM.

More than 30 political parties have fielded their candidates for the elections.

The Opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, led by cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, is looking to unseat the incumbent Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), which was formally led by the now jailed ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), led by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, is also in the race.

Shahbaz Sharif, the president of the PML-N who is hoping to become the next prime minister of Pakistan, was among the first people to cast his vote in Lahore.

“Just cast my vote. High time that all of you came out to vote for Pakistan’s progress and prosperity. May this election be a source of peace and stability for the nation!,” he tweeted after casting his vote.

PTI chairman Khan, former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, former Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah also cast their vote in their respective constituencies.

According to a survey of polls computed by Gallup Pakistan on the eve of general elections, Khan’s PTI and the PML-N are running “neck and neck”, with the PTI ahead nationally and the PML-N ahead in the crucial province of Punjab.

For a smooth polling process, the ECP has deployed around 1.6 million staff at polling stations across the country.

About 449,465 policemen and over 370,000 military personnel have been deployed for security.

In a special message yesterday, Chief Election Commissioner Justice (retd) Sardar Raza Khan urged voters to fulfil their national duty of casting the ballot.

A public holiday has been declared across the country on Wednesday in order to facilitate the voting process.

Pakistan’s National Assembly comprises a total of 342 members, of which 272 will be directly elected today whereas the rest – 60 seats reserved for women and 10 for religious minorities – are selected later through proportional representation among parties with more than five per cent of the vote.

A party can only form the government if it manages to clinch 172 seats in total.

The run up to the elections have seen a massive crackdown on the media and allegations that the military has secretly backed the campaign of Khan while targeting his political opponents.

The military has ruled Pakistan through various coups for nearly half of the country’s history since independence in 1947. Even during the civilian rule, the generals have wielded enormous power, setting the agenda for the country’s foreign and security policies.

The ECP was also criticised for deploying the Army both inside and outside of polling stations.

Army chief Gen Qamar Bajwa, however, assured that the Army will only perform a facilitative role in the polls and that the polling process is to remain under the control and authority of the ECP.

Former prime minister Sharif, the supremo of the PML-N who was jailed this month after being convicted in a corruption case, also accused the military of pressuring the judiciary to convict him. Both institutions deny the charge.

Controversy has also arisen over allowing militant groups to participate in the elections.

Some of the infamous Pakistani extremist leaders, accused of spreading religious hatred and instigating sectarian violence, are among hundreds of candidates contesting the elections.

The leading among them are Mumbai-terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed-led banned Jamat-ud Dawa’s candidates who are fighting with an aim to make Pakistan a “citadel of Islam.”

In the run up to the elections, the country also witnessed a series of deadly attacks targeting candidates and campaign rallies, including one that killed 151 people in Balochistan province.

A fierce battle is expected between the PML-N and Khan’s PTI in Punjab, the most populous province often known for deciding the next government in the country.

Khan has pledged to break the decades-old two party “status quo” of the PML-N and its historical rival the PPP. (PTI)</s>world

Updated: Jul 26, 2018 01:09 IST

At least 29 people were killed and several others injured in blasts and clashes on Wednesday across Pakistan as millions turned up to vote for the general and assembly elections, officials said.

Several reports media said more than 28 people were killed in the NA-260 constituency of Quetta, the capital of the troubled Balochistan province, in an attack targeting a police van. Television images showed a charred police vehicle, cordoned off by security officials. (Live updates)

“(The bomber) was trying to enter the polling station. When police tried to stop him he blew himself up,” a local administration official in Quetta, Hashim Ghilzai, told news agency AFP.

Supporters of two rival parties exchanged fire outside a polling station in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, killing a worker of former cricketer Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party and injuring two others, news agency PTI reported citing the police.

It added that the Khan’s party worker was killed as activists clashed with Awami National Party supporters at the polling station in Nawan Kali of Swabi district after voting opened for the general elections.

In Larkana, in the southern province of Sindh and the home of the Bhutto family, at least three people were injured after an explosion was reported outside a polling station in NA-200 constituency, near Shah Muhammad School.

Deputy inspector general (DIG) Akbar Riaz told Geo News the cracker blast targeted a Pakistan People’s party (PPP) camp and added polling continued despite the attack.

Clashes between workers of opposing parties were also reported from several areas.

The military has deployed more than 370,000 troops to ensure security on the polling day amid fears of further attacks after a series of bombings killed hundreds of people during campaign rallies.

Opinion polls in the run-up to the Pakistan assembly election have put Khan’s PTT a little ahead of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (N) and the Pakistan Peoples’ Party of Bilawal Bhutto in the third place.

Thousands of candidates belonging to extremist and militant sectarian groups are also contesting the general elections in Pakistan.

To gain a majority, a party needs 137 of the 272 elected National Assembly seats. A further 70 seats for women and minorities are awarded proportionally based on the voting percentages.

No Pakistani prime minister has ever completed their term.

First Published: Jul 25, 2018 12:17 IST</s>Pakistani election staff count the votes following polls closed at a polling station for the parliamentary elections in Karachi, Pakistan. Chief Election Commisioner Sardar Mohammad Raza later defended the process after Sharif's party and at least four others contesting the elections alleged the counting was manipulated. "These elections were 100 pe cent transparent and fair," Raza said. "There is no stain. Why don't you think the five political parties might be wrong?" With 30 per cent of the total vote counted, Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, or Pakistan Movement for Justice, was listed by the ECP as leading in 113 of 272 contested National Assembly constituencies. Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, lead by his younger brother Shahbaz Sharif, was ahead in 66 constituencies, and the Pakistan Peoples Party, led by the son of assassinated two-time prime minister Benazir Bhutto, led in 39 constituencies.

Khan's camp was increasingly confident, although it still appeared likely to fall short of the 137 seats needed for a majority in the National Assembly, raising the prospect it would need to find coalition partners among smaller parties and independents. Khan's party spokesman, Fawad Chaudhry, tweeted "Congratulations to the nation on a new Pakistan! Prime Minister Imran Khan", although his party has officially held off on declaring victory. Wednesday's voting was marred by a suicide bombing that killed 31 people outside a polling station in Quetta. Islamic State claimed responsibility. The parliamentary balloting marked only the second time in Pakistan's 71-year history that one civilian government is handing power to another in the country of 200 million people. There also have been widespread concerns during the election campaign about manipulation by the military, which has directly or indirectly ruled the country for most of its existence. "We will sweep the elections," said Abdul Basit, a supporter of Khan's, who watched the results on a large TV screen.

Jubilant Khan supporters danced to the beat of drums at his party headquarters in Islamabad, sensing a victory. The sound of fire crackers echoed in the night sky. The attack in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province, underscored the difficulties the majority Muslim nation faces on its wobbly journey toward sustained democracy. People attend funeral of the election day suicide bombing victims in Quetta, Pakistan. Baluchistan also saw the worst violence during campaigning earlier this month, when a suicide bomber struck at a political rally, killing 149 people, including the candidate Siraj Raisani. Another 400 were wounded. IS claimed responsibility for that attack. Baluchistan has seen relentless attacks, both by the province's secessionists and Sunni militants who have killed hundreds of Shiites there. The military deployed 350,000 troops at polling stations across the country.

Moeed Yusuf, associate vice president of the Asia Centre at the Washington-based US Institute of Peace, said politically motivated mob violence is rare in Pakistan, while Wednesday's attack in Baluchistan appeared to be the work of a terrorist group. "Terrorist violence is a different issue altogether and is unlikely to affect political stability," Yusuf said. "Unfortunately, Pakistanis have gone through so much violence that they are desensitised to it." Yusuf said the top challenge for the next government will be the economic crisis. "The new government is going to be in an unenviable position, and especially Imran Khan, as he is not the preferred prime minister for Pakistan's two traditional chief patrons, China and the US."

Khan has been an outspoken critic of the US-led war in neighbouring Afghanistan as well as China's massive investment in Pakistan, which has racked up millions of dollars in debt to Beijing. Khan's supporters showered his vehicle with rose petals as he arrived to vote near his home in the capital of Islamabad. Afterward, he appealed for people to vote in huge numbers "to save future generations." Imran Khan, centre, casts his vote in front of the cameras. As polls closed, Election Commission spokesman Nadeem Qasim said the commission had told Khan that his vote could be disqualified because he cast his ballot in front of TV cameras, violating constitutional provisions on "the secrecy of the ballot paper." Video images showed a smiling Khan with his ballot in front of him as he marked it. As early results gave Khan an edge, Maryam Aurangzeb of Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League raised the first allegations of ballot fraud and warned that his supporters might revolt if the charges prove correct.

"We will not allow anyone to steal the mandate the nation has given to us," she told a news conference. "So far, we are controlling our supporters, but we won't be able to convince them to exercise restraint if the results were manipulated against our party." As voting ended, festive supporters of both parties gathered outside polling stations, dancing to the beat of drums. The third-largest party is the left-leaning Pakistan People's Party, headed by Bilawal Bhutto, the son of late prime minister Benazir Bhutto, assassinated by the Pakistani Taliban, whom she had vowed to eradicate. More than 11,000 candidates are vying for 270 seats in Pakistan's law-making National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament, and 577 seats in four provincial assemblies. Under Pakistani law, separate seats are reserved for women and for non-Muslim minorities, which comprise 4 per cent of the population. Results will be nullified if the female voter turnout didn't reach 10 per cent.

The 85,307 polling stations were open for 10 hours, an hour longer than in 2013. Voting for two parliamentary seats and six seats in provincial assemblies has been postponed due to attacks on candidates or disqualifications. There are more than 105 million eligible voters - 59 million men and 46 million women. A woman casts her vote in Peshawar, Pakistan, on Wednesday. Election officials reminded candidates their results will be nullified if the female voter turnout didn't reach 10 per cent. The requirement was imposed after the 2013 elections, when several areas banned voting by women, mostly in the religiously conservative north-west. Some candidates won without a single woman marking a ballot. Rights activist Tahira Abdullah said local jirgas, or councils of elders, from 60 areas representing 16 different constituencies had signed agreements banning women from voting despite the new ruling.

Jibran Nasir, an independent candidate from the financial hub of Karachi, said he received death threats and even had a fatwa, or religious edict, issued against him. He had refused to condemn Ahmadis, reviled by mainstream Muslims as heretics because they believe the messiah promised in Islam arrived over a century ago. In 1974, Pakistan declared Ahmadis to be non-Muslims. International and domestic election observers monitored the voting. The European Union Election Observation Mission has 120 monitors in major centres across Pakistan, with the exception of Baluchistan.
A blast outside a polling station in Quetta, Pakistan, kills 31 people and wounds several more on election day.