Pak temporarily suspends mobile services as voting begins for general polls

Pakistanis on Thursday began voting in the general elections to elect a new government to rule the cash-strapped country amid speculation that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's PML-N may emerge as the largest party in Parliament as it is backed by the powerful military.

The polling started at 8.00 AM and will continue without any break till 5.00 PM. A countrywide public holiday has been declared to enable a total of 128,585,760 registered voters to cast their votes.

The counting will start soon after the conclusion of the voting.

Nearly 650,000 security personnel have been deployed across the country as more than 12.85 crore registered voters will cast their ballots at 90,000 polling stations. Pakistan has decided to temporarily suspend the mobile service due to the threat of militancy.

With former prime minister Imran Khan in jail, Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is tipped to emerge as the single largest party in the elections.