Pakistanis voted Wednesday in elections that could propel former World Cup cricket hero Imran Khan to power, after a campaign marred by military interference and insurgent violence that culminated with an election day suicide blast killing at least 30.
The vote is a rare democratic transition in the populous and poor nuclear-armed Muslim country, which has been ruled by the powerful military for roughly half its history.
But it has also been dubbed Pakistan’s “dirtiest election” due to widespread accusations of pre-poll rigging by the armed forces who are believed to favour Khan.
Polling day violence struck when dozens of people were killed in the suicide bombing, claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group, in the southwestern city of Quetta.
It was the second major attack by IS this month in Balochistan province, after an earlier blast killed 153 people in Pakistan’s deadliest ever suicide attack.