General elections kick off in Pakistan

Pakistan’s general elections have started amid tight security measures to protect candidates and polling stations from possible attacks.

Polling stations officially opened at 8:00 am (0300 GMT) Saturday morning for the one-day elections.

Millions are expected to vote in the elections amid terrorist attacks and threats of disruption.

Meanwhile, an explosion is reported to have injured many Pakistani people near a polling station in the southern city of Karachi.

On Friday, an independent candidate, who had been running for a seat in the assembly of Pakistan’s Sindh Province, was shot dead in Karachi.

Shakil Ahmed and two supporters were killed on Friday night in the Landhi area, police said.

The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militant group previously announced that they would target the election rallies of three political parties, the Awami National Party (ANP), the MQM, and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).

The voters will elect 272 legislators to the 342-member National Assembly and legislators to four provincial assemblies.