ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has declared 711 polling stations as sensitive in Lahore, the country’s second most populous city and the capital of Punjab.
Pakistan’s leading English daily newspaper The Nation and other media outlets reported on Tuesday that for the July 25 general elections the ECP decided to install 2,886 closed-circuit television cameras on 711 sensitive polling stations in Lahore.
The ECP officials held a meeting with military and other law enforcement officers in Lahore on Monday to access the security arrangements ahead of the polls. Twenty to 25 military personnel will be deployed on reportedly sensitive polling stations, the convention decided.
The ECP has categorized polling stations as normal, sensitive, and highly sensitive, and nearly 20,000 polling stations have been categorized as sensitive across the country.
Last week, the army spokesperson Major General Asif Ghafoor told reporters that the military has “no direct role” in the electoral process but announced it was deploying 371,388 troops across the country for three days at polling stations to ensure free, fair and transparent general elections on July 25.
The ECP has delegated six tasks to the army, including maintenance of overall security of the country, provision of security to printing presses, and aiding transportation of the ballot papers.
Lahore: 711 polling stations declared as sensitive
Lahore: 711 polling stations declared as sensitive
- Election Commission of Pakistan declared 20,000 polling stations as sensitive across the country
- Military will deploy 371,388 troops at polling stations across the country for three days to ensure free, fair and transparent general elections on July 25
Death toll in Pakistan wedding suicide blast rises to six
- Attack targeted members of local peace committee in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Dera Ismail Khan
- Peace committees are community-based groups that report militant activity to security forces
PESHAWAR: The death toll from a suicide bombing at a wedding ceremony in northwestern Pakistan rose to six, police said on Saturday, after funeral prayers were held for those killed in the attack a day earlier.
The bomber detonated explosives during a wedding gathering in the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, injuring more than a dozen, some of them critically.
“The death toll has surged to six,” said Nawab Khan, Superintendent of Police for Saddar Dera Ismail Khan. “Police have completed the formalities and registered the case against unidentified attackers.”
“It was a suicide attack and the Counter Terrorism Department will further investigate the case,” he continued, adding that security had been stepped up across the district to prevent further incidents.
No militant group has claimed responsibility for the blast so far.
Khan cautioned against speculation, citing ongoing militancy in the area, and said the investigation was being treated with “utmost seriousness.”
The explosion targeted the home of a member of a local peace committee, which is part of community-based groups that cooperate with security forces and whose members have frequently been targeted by militants in the past.
Some media reports also cited a death toll of seven, quoting police authorities.
Emergency officials said several of the wounded were taken to hospital soon after the blast.
Militant attacks have intensified in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since the Taliban returned to power in neighboring Afghanistan in 2021, with Islamabad accusing Afghan authorities of “facilitating” cross-border assaults, a charge Kabul denies.
