‘Taliban took over polling station,’ says Pakistan election candidate in letter to Chief Election Commissioner

Mohsin Dawar, a politician and candidate, has written a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner of Pakistan.

While the parliamentary election is being held in Pakistan on Thursday, Mohsin Dawar, a politician and candidate, has written a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner of Pakistan. Mohsin alleged that the Taliban took over the polling station in Tappi, North Waziristan. He also claimed that three female polling agents were attacked. Notably, North Waziristan is a district of Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, bordering Afghanistan.

People hold black flags as they boycott voting during the general election as part of a protest against authorities for not fulfilling their demands, at Landi Kotal in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan(REUTERS)

Taking to X(formerly Twitter), Dawar shared the letter sent by him to the Chief Election Commissioner of Pakistan. He captioned his post as: "I have written to the CEC urging @ECP_Pakistan to take notice of the security situation in Tappi, N. Waziristan in NA-40 where Taliban have taken over polling stations. We have also filed an application with the police against an attack there on 3 of our female polling agents."

12th general elections are being held in Pakistan. Amid the ongoing election, internet services have been shut down in various parts of the country. Other political parties have also alleged rigging with the involvement of authorities.

Violence has been reported in various parts of the country while there is heavy deployment of thousands of troops. In northwest Pakistan, four police officials were killed in a bomb blast and shooting incident. Borders with Iran and Afghanistan are temporarily closed.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) of ex-PM Nawaz Sharif is expected to emerge the the single-largest party in the 336-seat National Assembly. Other major political parties in the fray are Bilawal Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and former PM Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

Notably, Khan has already been barred from contesting the elections. The former Prime Minister is currently lodged in a jail in the garrison city of Rawalpindi. He has been convicted in several legal cases.