Pakistanis Vote as Violence Mars End of Vibrant Campaign
Pakistanis went to the polls for a historic election on Saturday, their excitement mingled with trepidation as the country marked a democratic milestone with a riveting electoral contest that was threatened by fresh violence from Taliban insurgents.
A bomb in the southern port of Karachi killed at least 11 people, doctors said, offering an ominous start to the day following Taliban threats to dispatch suicide bombers to selected targets across the country. At least 17 people have been killed in the violence, which included a gunfight and an attack on a polling station in the western province of Balochistan, and two explosions in the northwest, including Peshawar, that left several people injured.
The attack in Karachi appeared directed at a candidate from the Awami National Party, one of three secular-leaning parties that have borne the brunt of Taliban attacks in the last month that have killed at least 110 people.
More: Pakistanis Vote as Violence Mars End of Vibrant Campaign