Pakistan to close borders with Iran, Afghanistan during Thursday's general elections

KARACHI, Pakistan

Pakistan has announced that its borders with neighboring Iran and Afghanistan will be closed to "ensure full security" during crucial general elections on Thursday.

“To ensure full security during the general elections to be held in Pakistan on Feb. 8, border crossings with Afghanistan and Iran, would remain closed both for cargo and pedestrians,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mumtaz Zehra Baloch said in a statement on Wednesday.

She added that normal border crossing operations would resume on Friday.

The announcement came after a wave of militant attacks across the country, including twin bomb blasts on election offices in northwestern Balochistan province on Wednesday, which killed 25 people and injured dozens more.

Despite the recent increase in terror attacks in the country, Islamabad said it is committed to holding "peaceful" elections on Thursday.​​​​​​​