Under tight security, Pakistani officials Sunday held a repeat election in a district of violence-plagued Karachi, despite the killing of a senior politician in the city the day before.

A Chinese man working on an energy project in Pakistan-administered Kashmir was being held Saturday after hundreds of protesters attacked his company offices over the alleged desecration of a Quran, officials said.

Toppled in a 1999 military coup, jailed and exiled, Pakistan's Nawaz Sharif has made a triumphant election comeback and looks set to form a stable government capable of implementing reforms needed to rescue the fragile economy.

Millions of Pakistanis turned out to vote in landmark elections on Saturday, defying deadly Taliban attacks to take part in an historic democratic transition for the nuclear-armed state.

Gunmen killed Pakistan's lead prosecutor investigating the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto as he was driving to court Friday, throwing a case that also involves the country's former ruler Pervez Musharraf into disarray.

Former Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf criticized allegations against him as “politically motivated” Friday, following his arrest in a case involving his decision to fire senior judges while in power.

Pakistan's government passed a major milestone Saturday, with the parliament becoming the first democratically chosen body to finish its five-year term in a country that has faced three military coups and persistent political turmoil.

The head of a U.N. team investigating casualties from U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan declared after a secret research trip to the country that the attacks violate Pakistan's sovereignty.

Pakistani cabinet ministers on Tuesday opened negotiations with Shiite Muslim protesters who are demanding army protection and refusing to bury victims of a bomb attack that killed 89 people in Quetta.

Pakistan's unpopular government, which is gearing up for elections expected within months, faced growing anger on Sunday for failing to deliver stability after a sectarian bombing in the city of Quetta killed 81 people.