Counting underway for 11th General Elections of Pakistan administered Kashmir

RAWALAKOT, July 25 (KUNA) -- The counting of votes is underway for the 11th General Elections of Pakistan administered Kashmir on Sunday as voting ends with reports of clashes in some areas.
The counting of votes is underway for 45 seats of the Legislative Assembly of Kashmir as the voting ends with reports of clashes in some areas.
Voters present inside polling stations were allowed to cast their ballots until after the polling time ended at 5 pm.
At least two workers of ruling political party Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) workers were killed in a clash with other political party's activists at a polling station in the Kotli district of Kashmir.
In a separate incident, five police personnel were injured after a religious political party workers attacked them with batons at the Dhal Chakhya polling station in Jhelum valley district, said a senior police official SP Riaz Mughal.
Moreover, at least four soldiers of the Pakistan army were killed on Sunday after a vehicle of the army's quick reaction force fell into a ravine in the Laswa area of Kashmir, said Pakistan military's media wing Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR).
It said three other soldiers and a civilian driver were also injured when the vehicle employed for the maintenance of law and order in support of the Kashmir general election 2021 toppled over while taking a steep turn in Laswa and fell down a ravine.
The security was beefed up during the elections and the combined force of at least 43,500 personnel was deployed across Kashmir.
Chief Election Commissioner of Kashmir, Abdul Rasheed Salaria expressed full satisfaction over the holding of the general elections process in a free, fair and peaceful manner.
In a statement to the media, he expressed the hope that the overall turnout of the voting might be over 56 percent. He said that although there were reports about occurrence of some unpleasant incidents, the overall polling process remained peaceful under the due foolproof security arrangements.
Over 700 candidates from 32 political and religious parties are contesting for the 45 general seats of the Legislative Assembly for a five-year term.
A total of 32 political parties are contesting the elections and hundreds of independent candidates are also vying in all the 45 electoral constituencies. (Pickup previous) sbk.mb