Former Pakistani prime ministers and bitter rivals Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan on Friday both declared victory in elections marred by delayed results and militant attacks, throwing the country into further political turmoil. Sharif’s party won the most seats by a single party in Thursday’s election, but supporters of imprisoned Khan, who ran as independents instead of as a single bloc after his party was barred from the polls, won the most seats overall. Sharif said his party would talk to other groups to form a coalition government as it had failed to win a clear majority on its own.

Islamabad, Feb 9 (PTI): Jailed former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan’s party-backed independent candidates seemed to be gaining the upper hand after the results of the general elections started trickling in on Friday following unusual delays that led to allegations of rigging. Votes are still being counted in Pakistan after Thursday’s general election which was marred by allegations of rigging, sporadic violence and a countrywide mobile phone shutdown. There were dozens of parties in the fray but the main contest was among Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), whose candidates are running as independents, former three-time premier Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League