People walk past a poster of jailed Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan, near his party office in Islamabad. The former international cricket star has been given three lengthy prison sentences in under a week and been banned from politics for 10 years

Leaders of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party Raoof Hasan along with Ahmad Awais speaks during a press conference in Islamabad on February 6. The rights observers have dubbed the Pakistan general election as deeply flawed, with the country's most charismatic politician (Imram Khan) languishing in jail and  barred from taking part

A security personnel stands guard near Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) election office in Quetta. In the past few days, a dozen separate attacks have been reported across Balochistan, at least five of which targeted candidates from different political parties

At least four people were killed by a bomb blast near a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) rally in the provincial capital Quetta

Almost 6,500 candidates from 150 parties will be standing in Pakistan's election this week, but only around five percent of them are women

Samar Haroon Bilour, a candidate of the Awami National Party (ANP) stands beside party workers during an election campaign rally in Peshawar. She has taken over her husband's campaign when he was shot dead by militants shortly before the last election

Workers preparing voting materials at a distributing centre in Islamabad on February 6

Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) announced that it had delivered more than 260 million ballot papers across the country

A street festooned with flags of political parties ahead of Pakistan's national elections, in Quetta

A Pakistan army convoy patrols along a road in Hyderabad on February 6, ahead of Pakistan's national election on February 8