KARACHI, Aug 18: At least 11 people were killed in sporadic incidents of violence in the first phase of the local body elections held in 3,032 union councils in 53 districts of the country on Thursday.

The counting of votes started immediately after the end of polling.

Acting Chief Election Commissioner Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar said the average turnout across the country was 50 per cent, but according to various teams of Dawn reporters it was below that mark.

Women participation in the voting was substantial, except for a dozen UCs near Peshawar due to a jirga decision not allowing women to vote.

A cumbersome polling process forced a large number of voters to stay away from polling stations.

Seven people were killed and dozens others injured in incidents of shooting, clubbing and scuffles in Punjab. The overall situation, however, remained under control of district administrations.

Clashes and incidents of ballot snatching were reported from most of the 17 districts in the province where the polling was held.

The deaths were reported one each from Multan, Bahawalnagar, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Muzaffargarh and two from Sahiwal. Reports of scuffle among supporters of rival candidates came from a large number of poling stations in southern Punjab.

A number of incidents of snatching of ballot boxes, ballot paper books and other related material were reported from different districts.

Mismanagement in the distribution of ballot papers also marred the polling process in some areas. There were reports that at some places the ballot papers were supplied in insufficient quantity while in some places the ballot papers did not have the symbols of all the candidates.

There were no incidents of violence in Karachi, proving the pundits of a bloodbath in the city wrong, though there were reports of widespread ballot fixing and use of strong-arm tactics by activists of rival groups.

Contingents of police and paramilitary Rangers were deployed at the polling stations while army troops also patrolled some major thoroughfares in the city.

There were allegations that activists of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement had taken over some polling stations and allegedly stuffed the ballot boxes in connivance with election officials. MQM strongly refuted the allegations. The participation of the MQM in the election after it had boycotted it in 2001, had generated stiff competition and acrimony.

At the end of the day, the opposition alliances rejected the polls as a farce and doctored. The opposition was sticking to its stand that the government had indulged in pre-poll rigging and violated the code of conduct.

According to Dawn’s Hyderabad Bureau, the elections held in nine districts of lower and upper Sindh were marred by several violent incidents, especially in the Kashmore district in upper Sindh. Varying percentage of voters’ turnout was reported.

Voters took considerable time to cast votes after being given six ballots, containing scores of symbols, of different colours. Uneducated people in the interior, particularly women, faced difficulty in casting votes.

No polling was held in Ghotki, the home district of former chief minister Sardar Ali Mohammad Mahar, as the Sindh High Court had stayed elections in the newly-created 15 union councils.

Incidents of ballots and stamps snatching, scuffles and aerial firing were reported in the Thatta district. The newly created Kashmore district was worst affected as over 50 people, including three polling officers, suffered injuries.

Five polling agents were kidnapped and ballot boxes were forcibly taken away. Armed clashes took place between the Bijarani group and the Khushhal-i-Pakistan Panel at the Sheralabad polling station where 11 people from both sides were injured. Similar incidents were reported from Jacobabad and other parts of the province.

Violence, disruption and mismanagement also marked the polling in several areas of the 12 districts of the NWFP. Three people were killed and four others wounded in Nizam Darmakhel in the southern district of Bannu following a clash between a man and his maternal uncle, supporting rival candidates. There were incidents of firing and disruption of polling in the district. Police said they had made some arrests.

In the neighbouring Dera Ismail Khan, clashes between rival groups were reported. Nineteen people were injured in two incidents. Reports of sporadic violence and disruption of polling were received from various places in Nowshera district. In Union Council Azakhel Bala, polling was called off and a new date would be announced later, an official said.

Peshawar also witnessed sporadic incidents of disruption, snatching of ballot boxes and ballot papers.

Despite warnings by the EC, women could not cast their ballots at several polling stations in Peshawar, Charsadda and Swabi either due to unwritten agreements among contesting candidates or local customs.

“We had made all arrangements to facilitate women to vote, but we cannot force them to come out if they choose not to,” the DRO, Peshawar said.

In Balochistan, at least 40 people, including a candidate for nazim and two security personnel, were injured in incidents of violence in the first phase of polling in 231 union councils of the 14 districts of the province.

According to reports, one person was killed in a clash between rival groups at a polling station in Jaffarabad, but official sources did not confirm the death and said that 19 people had received injuries in the clash.

According to a Dawn report from Multan, the turnout was large in rural areas of 17 districts in southern Punjab where elections were held on Thursday. However, a poor turnout was reported from major urban areas.

MULTAN: Candidates belonging to groups backed by opposition parties were faring well against their rivals supported by the ruling party in most of the districts in Punjab as initial results were received late in the night.