Pakistan has temporarily suspended mobile phone services nationwide as voters in the fifth most-populous nation in the world head to the polls for a tumultuous general election.
A statement from the Ministry of Interior posted on X Thursday morning said in Urdu that, in response to “recent incidents of terrorism” in the country, cellular networks had been cut off “to maintain the law and order situation and deal with possible threats.”
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The disruption comes after more than two dozen people were killed in a pair of bombings on candidates’ offices in the southwestern region of Balochistan on the eve of the elections Wednesday. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for those attacks.
Polls opened at 8 a.m. local time, and are set to close at 5 p.m. (7 a.m. Eastern). Results are expected Friday.
Some 128 million Pakistanis are registered to vote, and about 650,000 security personnel have been deployed to ensure a peaceful process, with the country also closing its borders with Iran and Afghanistan as an added security measure. But the election, already marred by violence, is hardly free or fair.
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Pakistan’s most popular politician, former Prime Minister Imran Khan, has been jailed and barred from the ballot, and his party has been systematically cracked down on by the country’s military kingmakers, paving the way for an expected victory for former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
The election comes at a critical time for the South Asian country of some 243 million people, which on top of its political unrest struggles with an ongoing economic crisis.
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