PAKISTAN ELECTION
Islamic State claims deadly blast as army backs Imran Khan
Quetta/Peshawar, Pakistan — A suicide bomber killed at least 29 people near a polling centre as Pakistanis voted on Wednesday in a knife-edge election pitting cricket hero Imran Khan against the party of jailed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif. The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for the attack that hospital officials said killed 29 people and wounded 35 in the western city of Quetta. Security sources said the bomber drove his motorcycle into a police vehicle. About 106-million people are registered to vote. Sharif’s party on Wednesday called for voting to be extended by an hour, saying people were still lining up late in the afternoon and could be turned away without casting ballots. Local TV channels said officials had denied the request. About 371,000 soldiers have been stationed at polling stations across the country, nearly five times the number deployed at the last election in 2013.
Earlier in July, a suicide bomber killed 149 people at an election ...
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