Militants Attacks Polling Centers In Pakistan

On February 8, hours after the start of Pakistani parliamentary election, the opposition militant groups, especially the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Baloch separatists (BLA, BLF), attacked the polling centers and agents of the national parliamentary elections of Pakistan and killed a number of Pakistani soldiers and government forces.

Two Pakistani soldiers were killed and five others were injured following an explosion in Kharan district of Balochistan province. Also, following another explosion in the city of Leja located in this state, two Pakistani soldiers were killed and nine others were injured. According to local media reports, at least 14 explosions occurred in Gwadar region today and some polling centers have been closed.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, five Pakistani soldiers were killed and two others were injured as a result of an attack by unknown armed men (probably Tehreek-e-Taliban) on Kolachi area in Dera Ismail Khan. In the second attack, unknown gunmen (probably Tehreek-e-Taliban) attacked Pakistani soldiers in Sheikh Attar area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and two people were injured.

In addition to these attacks, Tehreek-e-Taliban militants have captured one of the polling centers in the Tepi region of North Waziristan and shot at three female employees of the Pakistani government.

More than 500,000 security forces were deployed across Pakistan to ensure security in sensitive areas and polling centers. Despite strong criticism from political parties, internet access in Pakistan was temporarily suspended due to security concerns and finally returned to normal this evening as the election voting deadline ended.

It is worth mentioning that the voting process for the 12th parliamentary elections started at 8 AM on Thursday, and approximately 128 million eligible Pakistani voters took part in these nationwide elections.