2 Dead, Several Injured as Multiple Gunmen Open Fire at Polling Station in Pakistan's Tank

Tank – At least two armed men were killed after “unknown gunmen” opened fire outside a polling station in the Pakistani city of Tank. The incident took place on Monday at a polling station in Kot Azam's Middle School where polls were held for the N-43 constituency. According to Pakistani news outlet Aaj TV, around 25 armed men opened fire on a polling station which was established in the Middle Scholl located at  Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Dera Ismail Khan. While authorities confirmed that two people died in the attack, several people were reported to be injured in the incident. In light of this, the voting process was suspended in the region as police commenced the clearance operation. 

According to Aaj TV, before the fateful incident, locals had been receiving calls from unknown mobile numbers that warned them against participating in the voting process. The polls were conducted in the region on Monday after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) suspended the polling process in six polling stations on February 8 due to the deteriorating condition of the law and order in the region. 

Violence during elections

When it comes to the political climate in the region, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) backed independent candidate Dawar Khan Kundi and JUI-F’s Maulana Asad Mehmood are the major candidates for the National Assembly seat. It was Mehmood who had requested repolling in the six polling stations which started at 8:00 am and was scheduled to continue till 5:00 pm before it was suspended. The turbulent situation is not only limited to Pakistan alone. The February 8 polls were marred by violence all across the nation. On the polling day, as many as 20 people were injured in sporadic incidents of violence all over Punjab. At that time, major violent incidents broke out in Talagang of Chakwal where four persons were shot at and injured during an armed clash between two groups. 

The country was also grappling with multiple terrorist attacks before and during the election day. In light of this Pakistan's interior ministry suspended mobile and internet services across the country. "As a result of the recent incidents of terrorism in the country, precious lives have been lost, security measures are essential to maintain the law and order situation and deal with possible threats, hence the temporary suspension of mobile services across the country, the Interior Ministry spokesperson wrote on X, formally known as Twitter. However, the decision by the Pakistani ministry was condemned by many after the counting of votes was delayed.