ISLAMABAD: Pakistanis turning out early for Thursday’s election said they believe their votes count, despite allegations of rigging in the nation’s most fractious poll in recent history.
“I believe in democracy and I think my vote matters,” said 22-year-old psychology student Haleema Shafiq, among the first to vote in the capital Islamabad.
“I cast my vote as it’s my duty,” she told AFP inside a polling station. “I wish for a deserving party to come to power.”
Polls opened at 8:00 am (0300 GMT) for 128 million eligible voters, with the first participants trickling into the Noorpur Shahan girl’s school and inking their fingers before stamping papers in gender-segregated booths.
Early voters were outnumbered by around a dozen armed security personnel staffing the station, a day after twin blasts claimed by the Daesh group killed 28 outside candidate offices in the nation’s southwest.
“I want a government that can make Pakistan safe for girls,” said Shafiq.
Analysts predict a low turnout after a muted campaign overshadowed by the jailing of ex-prime minister Imran Khan and the hobbling of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party by the military establishment.
“Is this the way an election should be conducted?” asked 40-year-old Imran Khan, a driver who shares his name with the jailed opposition leader.
“Everyone has the right to vote according to their own will,” he said. “Today is not the day to stay at home. Those who choose to sit at home today will do injustice to themselves.”
Monitors say the treatment of PTI amounts to “pre-poll rigging,” and the party has voiced fears that voters would face interference at polling stations.
In a nation where nearly 40 percent of adults are illiterate, the ballot papers featured symbols associated with different parties, varying from a tiger to an arrow and a set of scales.
A Supreme Court decision stripped PTI of the right to use their cricket bat symbol, which alluded to the charismatic Khan’s star sporting career.
As a result, PTI’s selected candidates are running as independents with a hodge-podge of symbols on ballot papers ranging from eggplants to bottles and beds.
Analysts have said it’s one more hurdle being used to disconnect PTI from their voter base.
Ballots were posted into white and green boxes, Pakistan’s national colors, and crowds steadily grew in the first hour after polls opened.
“I arrived 20 minutes early to cast my vote because I believe my vote matters,” said 39-year-old Syed Tassawar. “My only fear is whether my vote will be counted for the same party I cast it for.”
“At the same time, for the poor it does not matter who is ruling — we need a government that can control inflation, that’s the only thing that matters to people like us,” added the construction worker.
Whoever wins Thursday’s election will inherit a divided country with an economy in tatters — with galloping inflation, a rupee in freefall and a balance of payments crisis.
“We have pretty high expectations from the new government to improve our conditions, said 21-year-old first-time voter Zainab Asghar.
Pakistanis say vote matters despite alleged election rigging
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Pakistanis say vote matters despite alleged election rigging
- Ballots were posted into Pakistan’s national colors and crowds steadily grew in the first hour after polls opened
- Analysts predict a low turnout after a muted campaign overshadowed by the jailing of ex-prime minister Imran Khan
Pakistan says responding to Afghan ‘offensive operations’ after border fire as tensions escalate
- Afghan Taliban spokesperson says “large-scale offensive operations” launched against Pakistani military bases
- Pakistan says Afghan forces opened “unprovoked” fire across multiple sectors along shared border
ISLAMABAD: Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities said on Thursday they had launched “large-scale offensive operations” against Pakistani military bases and installations, prompting Pakistan to say its forces were responding to what it described as unprovoked fire along the shared border.
The escalation follows Islamabad’s weekend airstrikes targeting what it said were Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Daesh militant camps inside Afghanistan in response to a wave of recent bombings and attacks in Pakistan. Islamabad said the strikes killed over 100 militants, while Kabul said dozens of civilians were killed and condemned the attacks as a violation of its sovereignty.
In a post on social media platform X, Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said Afghanistan had launched “large-scale offensive operations” in response to repeated violations by the Pakistani military.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Information said Afghan forces had initiated hostilities along multiple points of the frontier.
“Afghan Taliban regime unprovoked action along the Pakistan–Afghanistan border given an immediate, and effective response,” the ministry said in a statement.
The statement said Pakistani forces were targeting Taliban positions in the Chitral, Khyber, Mohmand, Kurram and Bajaur sectors, claiming heavy Afghan casualties and the destruction of multiple posts and equipment. It added that Pakistan would take all necessary measures to safeguard its territorial integrity and the security of its citizens.
Separately, security officials said Pakistani forces had carried out counterattacks in several border sectors.
“Pakistan’s security forces are giving a befitting reply to the unprovoked Afghan aggression with full force,” a security official said, declining to be named.
“The Pakistani security forces’ counter-attack destroyed Taliban’s hideouts and the Khawarij fled,” they added, referring to TTP militants.
The claims from both sides could not be independently verified.
Cross-border violence has intensified in recent weeks, with Pakistan blaming a surge in suicide bombings and militant attacks on militants it says are based in Afghanistan. Kabul denies providing safe havens to anti-Pakistan militant groups.
The clashes mark the third major escalation between the neighbors in less than a year. Similar Pakistani strikes last year triggered weeklong clashes before Qatar, Türkiye and other regional actors mediated a ceasefire in October.
The 2,600-kilometer (1,600-mile) frontier, a key trade and transit corridor linking Pakistan to landlocked Afghanistan and onward to Central Asia, has faced repeated closures amid tensions, disrupting commerce and humanitarian movement. Trade between the two nations has remained closed since October 2025.
