Pakistan closes crossing points with Afghanistan

ATLANTA (Pajhwok): Pakistan closed all crossing points with Afghanistan on Thursday as voters streamed to polling stations across the country in the general election 2024.

To ensure full security during the polls, the crossing points with Afghanistan would remain closed both for cargo and pedestrians, says Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Normal operations would resume on Feb 9, the ministry wrote on X. The parliamentary ballot comes a couple of days after 30 people were killed and dozens injured in explosions in Balochistan and Sindh provinces.

Tens of millions of Pakistanis are heading to the polls to vote in a new government amid soaring inflation, rising violence and claims of rigging, according to the BBC.

The election comes almost two years since the ex- prime minister, cricketer-turned-politician, Imran Khan, was ousted in a no-confidence vote.

sa/mud