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                         Blasts Mar Pakistani Elections

   Violence on election day in Pakistan has killed at least 16 people, as
   voters cast ballots in the first election that will see one civilian
   administration give way to another after a full term in office.
   As Pakistanis vote in parliamentary elections to fill 272 seats in the
   National Assembly, twin bomb blasts in Karachi killed at least 10
   people. The blasts took place at a political campaign office for the
   Awami National Party, one of the parties targeted by the Taliban for
   election-related attacks.
   Shootings in the southwestern province of Baluchistan left another four
   people dead.
   However, considering the huge turnout at polling stations across the
   country, relatively few attacks have taken place so far on election
   day.
   More than 100 people have been killed and scores wounded since late
   April in attacks, as the Taliban seeks to undermine the election.
   Taliban members have warned of suicide attacks on election day.
   Pakistani politician and former cricketer Imran Khan is leading the PTI
   party and posting a challenge to the two parties that long dominated
   Pakistani politics. But Khan, who is popular with Pakistan`s younger
   voters, suffered a fall earlier this week and now lies flat on his back
   in a hospital, not able to make campaign appearances.
   Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif leads the Pakistan Muslim League,
   which is expected to take the majority of votes as candidates compete
   for 272 seats in the National Assembly.
   Public opinion polls indicate that the Pakistan People`s Party is
   trailing behind its two competitors. The PPP`s most prominent member is
   President Asif Ali Zardari, widower of assassinated former prime
   minister Benazir Bhutto.
   Winners of seats in Saturday`s parliamentary elections will be tasked
   with leading a country suffering from periodic power failures, a poor
   economy, a Taliban insurgency and political corruption.
   Bombings on Friday killed at least four people and wounded 18 others.
   The four died in a blast near political party offices in North
   Waziristan - a Taliban and al-Qaida stronghold. Thirteen people were
   wounded.
   A blast in the southwestern part of the country wounded five more
   people outside an office being used by the Pakistan People`s Party.
   No one has claimed responsibility for the bombings, but
   Pakistan`s military says it is deploying thousands of troops to polling
   stations and counting centers.
   The recent bombings of two rallies of a leading Islamic party, Jamiat
   Ulema-e-Islam, strengthened views the Taliban is opposed to democracy
   and is targeting anyone taking part in the elections.
   On Thursday, the last day of campaigning, militants kidnapped Ali
   Haider Gilani in Punjab province. The son of former prime minister
   Yousuf Raza Gilani is running for a provincial assembly seat.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/blasts-mar-pakistani-elections/165907
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/blasts-mar-pakistani-elections/1659076.html