Pakistan elections begin under tight security

Pakistan’s national and state assembly elections began on Thursday, at more than 90,000 polling stations across the country.

As many as 270,000 army soldiers along with more than 150,000 police, border forces and anti-terrorism forces have put Pakistan under strict security measures in cities across the country, including Islamabad.

Voting started at 8am local time in the presence of local and foreign observers.

Voting will continue until 5pm.

In this year’s elections, over 1.28 million people are eligible to vote, of which more than 69 million are men and more than 59 million are women.

The head of the Election Commission of Pakistan said on Wednesday that they are ready to hold transparent and fair elections in all regions of Pakistan.

Meanwhile, Pakistan temporarily suspended mobile phone services on Thursday to strengthen security as voting began in the country’s national election, the interior ministry said.

“As a result of the recent incidents of terrorism in the country precious lives have been lost, security measures are essential to maintain the law and order situation and deal with possible threats, hence the temporary suspension of mobile services across the country,” the interior ministry said in a message on X.