At least 29 people were killed and dozens injured in violence across the country on Thursday as voters went to the polls in 54 districts in the second phase of local elections. Tens of thousands of troops and police were deployed in sensitive areas across the country after the first phase of the elections a week ago was marred by violence, in which at least 20 people were killed and 700 injured, and opposition claims of rigging. Acting chief election commissioner (CEC) Justice Hamid Dogar later confirmed 22 deaths on Thursday. âHowever, none of them were killed inside any polling stations and not all the cases were linked to election activity,â the CEC said. The CEC said that the primary turnout was around 60% in Punjab, 40-45% in Sindh and 45% in NWFP. He said it was too early to say the turnout in Balochistan, but observers there put the turnout at around 30 percent.
The most deaths were reported in Punjab (20), followed by Sindh (6), NWFP (2) and Balochistan (1). Six people were killed in Lahore. Two men were shot dead and six injured when rival groups opened fire near a polling station in Toor village, UC-145 Khana. Two more, including former nazim Muhammad Zaheer, were killed and one injured in Maraka in Manga Mandi. Polling was suspended for two hours at a polling station in UC-144, Haloki, after a PPP worker was gunned down. Another political worker was killed by a rival group near a polling station in UC-38, Shalimar Town. Three people were killed by in firing outside a polling station in Chak 436, Jaranwala tehsil, Faisalabad district. Two were killed in a shootout in UC-83, Jhang district.