NEW DELHI: Police confirmed to Bikyanews.com via telephone on Saturday that more than 20 people have been killed in bomb attacks in Pakistan as the country heads to the polls for a national election. Gun battles have also ensued across the country as millions of people turned out to cast a ballot despite the violence in national and provincial elections. A bomb attack in the port city of Karachi on Saturday morning targeted the office of the Awami National party (ANP), killing 10 people and wounding more than 30, according to Reuters. Local media also reported gunfire in the city, underlining the range of risks faced by the country's 86 million voters. A roadside bomb in Karachi also killed one person riding in a bus of ANP supporters. In the north-western city of Peshawar a bomb outside a polling station killed one person while two more died when a bomb went off near a police van. In the south-western province of Baluchistan, gunmen killed two people outside a polling station in the town of Sorab and a shootout between supporters of two candidates in the town of Chaman killed six people, officials said. The violence follows a string of bombings and shootings by the Taliban, which have marred the runup to the elections and claimed the lives of more than 130 people. The historic vote, which pits a former cricket star against a two-time prime minister and an unpopular incumbent, marks the first transition from one civilian government to another in a country ruled by the military for more than half of its history. BN
