51 attacks kill 15 people on Pakistan election day — army

At least 15 people, including 5 terrorists, have been killed in 51 different suspected 'terror incident' in southwestern and northwestern Pakistan as millions of Pakistanis head to polls in an election marred by violence and controversy.

In the first attack, security personnel were killed in the Kot Azam area of the Tank district in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province when unknown gunmen opened fire on a security team guarding polling staff.

Tank borders Afghanistan's Waziristan district.

In another incident, at least four policemen were killed and several others injured in the same province when a police van was hit by an improvised explosive device.

"Militants targeted a police van and later also opened fire on their vehicle in the Kulachi area of the Dera Ismail Khan district during police patrols," a local official told Anadolu on the phone on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media.

In the third attack since morning, at least two security personnel were killed and nine were injured in a landmine blast in the southwestern Balochistan province.

The incident took place in the Kharaan district, the latest in an ongoing spate of militant attacks amid voting in Thursday’s general elections.

Communication blockade

Authorities said Thursday they were suspending mobile telephone services across the country during voting "to maintain law and order" following a bloody election campaign — including two blasts on Wednesday that killed at least 29 people.

Pollsters have predicted a low turnout from the country's 128 million eligible voters following a lacklustre election campaign overshadowed by the jailing of former prime minister Imran Khan, and the hobbling of his Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) party.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is expected to win the most seats in Thursday's vote, with analysts saying its 74-year-old founder Nawaz Sharif poised to secure a fourth term in office.

22-year-old first-time voter Haleema Shafiq, a psychology student, who voted in Islamabad's Noorpur Shahan neighbourhood, said: "I believe in democracy. I want a government that can make Pakistan safer for girls."

Polling stations opened at 8:00 am (0300 GMT) and were due to close at 5:00 pm (1200 GMT), with voters already inside allowed another hour.

Officials have deployed more than 650,000 army, paramilitary and police personnel to provide security for an election already marred by violence.

'Security measures'

On Wednesday, at least 29 people were killed and more than 30 wounded by two bomb blasts outside the offices of candidates in southwestern Pakistan, in attacks claimed hours later by Daesh.

A spokesman for the interior ministry said "precious lives have been lost" in recent terrorist attacks in Pakistan and "security measures are essential to maintain law and order situation and to deal with potential threats."

"It has been decided to temporarily suspend the mobile service across the country," the spokesman said in a statement.

The foreign ministry said the land borders with neighbours Iran and Afghanistan would also be closed to all traffic on Thursday as a security measure.

The election figures are staggering in the nation of 240 million people — the world's fifth-most populous.

Nearly 18,000 candidates are standing for seats in the national and four provincial assemblies, with 266 seats directly contested in the former — an additional 70 reserved for women and minorities — and 749 places in the regional parliaments.

Tables turned

Thursday's election has a similar air to the 2018 poll, but with the tables turned.

Then, it was Sharif who was disqualified from running because of a string of convictions for graft, while Khan swept to power with the backing of the military, as well as genuine support.

Unlike the last poll, however, the opposition party has had its name removed from ballots, forcing PTI-selected candidates to run as independents.

Khan, a former international cricketer who led Pakistan to victory in the World Cup in 1992, was last week sentenced to lengthy jail terms for treason, graft, and illegal marriage.

Analysts say the character assassination shows that PTI-selected candidates could still prove a decisive factor in Thursday's vote.

If Sharif does not win a ruling majority, he will most likely still take power via a coalition with one or more junior partners — including the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), another family-run dynasty now led by Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari.

Pollsters have said the election has left the population at its most "discouraged" in years.

Whoever wins takes over a deeply divided country, observers say, with the economy in tatters.

Inflation is galloping at nearly 30 percent, the rupee has been in free fall for three years and a balance of payments deficit has frozen imports, severely hampering industrial growth.