Voting for general elections continues in Pakistan.
Voting started at 8 am on Thursday, which is going to continue till 5 pm. Four policemen lost their lives in a terrorist attack during voting.
According to Pakistani media, four policemen on election duty have been killed in a terrorist attack in northwest Pakistan.
Earlier, just a day before the elections, two bomb blasts targeted election offices in Balochistan province, killing at least 30 people and injuring 30 others.
Former Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan is in jail amid voting. It is believed that former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s party can emerge as the largest party in this election because it has the support of the army. A total of 12,85,85,760 voters across the country will be able to exercise their franchise in these elections.
In view of voting, today has been declared a public holiday in the country. Counting of votes will begin immediately after completion of voting. Around 6,50,000 security personnel have been deployed for the general elections.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s caretaker government said that mobile services have been suspended due to the deteriorating security situation in Pakistan.
The Home Ministry said it has decided to ‘temporarily suspend mobile services across the country’ in view of the ‘deteriorating security situation’. There are also reports that phone services have also been affected in some cities including Karachi and Peshawar.
On the impact of internet and cellular services, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja said the ECP will not ask the ministry to restart the services.
Two bomb blasts took place a day before the elections
There were two bomb blasts in Pakistan on Wednesday also. In the first incident, 20 people were killed and 30 others were injured in a massive blast outside the office of independent candidate Asfandyar Khan Kakar in Pishin district.
Less than an hour later, another bomb exploded outside the election office of Jamiat Ulema Islam (JUI) in Qila Abdullah area, killing 10 people and injuring 22 others. No group or individual has taken responsibility for both the blasts.
Abdullah Zahari, senior police officer of Panjgur, Balochistan, said that a bomb was placed in a bag with a ‘timer’ attached outside the election office of candidate Asfandyar Khan Kakar. “The condition of some of the injured is critical and they have been taken to Quetta for treatment,” he said.