Rehan Khan / EPA

People look over the scene of a bomb blast near a polling station in Karachi, Pakistan, on Saturday.

ISLAMABAD -- Pakistanis voted in a landmark test of democracy on Saturday and were quickly reminded of the militant violence that plagues the country, with election-related bombings in several cities.

Slideshow: Pakistan: A nation in turmoil

Muhammed Muheisen / AP

Images of daily life, political pursuits, religious rites and deadly violence.

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An attack on the office of the Awami National Party (ANP) in the commercial capital, Karachi, killed 10 people and wounded 30, followed by another blast minutes later.

An explosion destroyed an ANP office in the northwest. There were no immediate reports of casualties. Television channels also reported an explosion in the city of Peshawar.

Pakistan's Taliban, who are close to al Qaeda, have killed over 110 people in election-related violence since April. The group, which is fighting to topple the U.S.-backed government, regards the elections as un-Islamic.

The election will bring the first transition between civilian governments in a country ruled by the military for more than half of its turbulent history.

The people hope the polls will deliver change and ease frustrations with the Taliban, a feeble economy, widespread corruption, chronic power cuts and crumbling infrastructure.

"The problems facing the new government will be immense, and this may be the last chance that the country's existing elites have to solve them," said Anatol Lieven, a professor at King's College, London, and author of a book on Pakistan.

"If the lives of ordinary Pakistanis are not significantly improved over the next five years, a return to authoritarian solutions remains a possibility," Lieven wrote in a column in the Financial Times.

Disenchantment with the two mainstream parties appeared this week to have brought a late surge of support for former cricket star Imran Khan, who could end up holding the balance of power.

Khan, 60, is in a hospital after injuring himself in a fall at a party rally, which may also win him sympathy votes.

With no clear-cut winner, weeks of haggling to form a coalition will follow, which would raise the risk that the government is undermined by instability.

That would only make it more difficult to reverse the disgust with politicians felt among the country's 180 million people and drive through the reforms needed to revive its near-failed economy.

Power cuts can last more than 10 hours a day in some places, crippling key industries like textiles, and a new International Monetary Fund bailout may be needed soon.

The Taliban have focused their anger on secular-leaning parties like the outgoing coalition led by the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and the ANP. Candidates, fearful of being assassinated, have avoided open campaigning.

The army stayed out of politics during the five years of the last government, but it still sets the nuclear-armed country's foreign and security policy and will steer the thorny relationship with Washington as NATO troops withdraw from neighboring Afghanistan next year.

The party of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif looks set to win the most seats in the one-day vote. But Khan could deprive Sharif of a majority and dash his hopes for a return to power 14 years after he was ousted in a military coup, jailed and later exiled.

Pakistan's best-known sportsman, who led a playboy lifestyle in his younger days, Khan is seen by many as a refreshing change from the dynastic politicians who long relied on a patronage system to win votes and are often accused of corruption.

Related:

• The ex-cricket star vs. the comeback kid: Who will be nuclear-armed Pakistan's next leader?
• Son of former Pakistan PM kidnapped at gunpoint during election rally
• Prosecutor probing Pakistan ex-PM's assassination slain in 'targeted killing'

Anja Niedringhaus / AP

Ahmedi guards protecting an Ahmedi mosque in Lahore, Pakistan on April 30, 2013. Ahmedis are reviled by mainstream Muslims as heretics because they believe a prophet followed Mohammed, defying the basic tenet of Islam that says Mohammed is the last prophet.

Lahore, Pakistan — In majority Muslim Pakistan, religious minorities say democracy is killing them.

Intolerance has been on the rise for the past five years under Pakistan's democratically elected government because of the growing violence of Islamic radicals, who are then courted by political parties, say many in the country's communities of Shiite Muslims, Christians, Hindus and other minorities.

On Saturday, the country will elect a new parliament, marking the first time one elected government is replaced by another in the history of Pakistan, which over its 66-year existence has repeatedly seen military rule. But minorities are not celebrating. Some of the fiercest Islamic extremists are candidates in the vote, and minorities say even the mainstream political parties pander to radicals to get votes, often campaigning side-by-side with well-known militants.

Anja Niedringhaus / AP

Ahmedis praying in their mosque, which displays an Arabic sign saying 'In the name of god, people are praying', in Lahore on April 30, 2013.

Anja Niedringhaus / AP

A Shiite worshipper at a shrine in Jhang on May 1, 2013. Minority Shiites in Pakistan have little hope that the May 11 general elections will help them because they fear Sunni radicals, who have targeted Shiites, could gain political strength.

About 96 percent of Pakistan's population of 180 million is Muslim. Most are Sunni, but according to the CIA Factbook about 10 to 15 percent are members of the Shiite sect. The remaining 4 percent are adherents to other religions such as Christians, Hindus and Ahmedis.

More than a dozen representatives of Pakistan's minorities interviewed by The Associated Press expressed fears the vote will only hand more influence to extremists. Since the 2008 elections, sectarian attacks have been relentless and minorities have found themselves increasingly targeted by radical Islamic militants. Minorities have little faith the new election will change that. Read the full story.

Anja Niedringhaus / AP

A Christian woman peering out from inside a church as angry Christians protest the beating of a young man from the Joseph Colony, a Christian neighborhood in Lahore, on April 30, 2013.

Anja Niedringhaus / AP

Barber Elias, 25, a Christian who was injured when he was beaten by radical Muslims, in the Joseph Colony in Lahore on April 30, 2013.

Anja Niedringhaus / AP

Christians protesting the beating of a young Christian belonging to the Joseph Colony, in Lahore on April 30, 2013.

Anja Niedringhaus / AP

A Christian repairing his home after it was attacked by radical Muslims, in the Joseph Colony in Lahore on April 30, 2013.

Anja Niedringhaus / AP

Homeless Hindus sleeping in a shrine cared for by Omparkarh Narian, 55, in Rawalpindi on May 4, 2013.

Slideshow: Pakistan: A nation in turmoil

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Images of daily life, political pursuits, religious rites and deadly violence.

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Rafiq Maqbool / AP

Rescue workers look for trapped people after a residential building collapsed in Thane, Mumbai, India, Thursday, April 4, 2013.

At least 39 people were killed and dozens injured after an illegal, half-constructed building collapsed in seconds "like a pack of cards" on the outskirts of India's financial centre Mumbai, officials and witnesses said.

Rescue workers using cranes and bulldozers searched for survivors in the wreck of steel and concrete on Friday after the seven-storey building crumbled on Thursday night. Residents said laborers paying rent of around $5 a day had lived in it.

"The building collapsed like a pack of cards within three to four seconds," said Ramlal, a local resident. "It just tilted a bit and collapsed," he said. Read the full story.

Danish Siddiqui / Reuters

Rescue workers carry a woman who survived from the collapsed building.

Vivek Prakash / Reuters

Rescue workers search for survivors at the site of the collapsed building.

Danish Siddiqui / Reuters

Rescue workers carry a child who survived the collapse of a residential building in Thane.

Divyakant Solanki / EPA

Rescue work continued at the site of the building collapse on April 5, 2013.

AP

Rescue workers carry a young child who survived the building collapse on Friday, April 5, 2013.

This story was originally published on Thu Apr 4, 2013 5:39 PM EDT

The number of female tourists visiting India has fallen by more than a third since the gang-rape in which a 23-year-old student died, according to business leaders there.

Visitor numbers have dropped in all parts of the country, not just in New Delhi, where December’s attack took place, the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) said Monday.

The brutal assault was shocking even to a nation inured to sexual crimes against women, and thousands of protesters took to the streets in the weeks that followed to demand tougher action.

Four days later, a British woman in Agra jumped from a second-floor hotel room when she feared the manager was trying to break in, while in another case a Swiss man was held at gunpoint while his wife was gang-raped in Madhya Pradesh.

 “From December 2012 onwards the inflows of women foreign tourists to the country have gone down by 35 percent and the overall tourism being affected by 25 percent,” said Assocham’s secretary general, DS Rawat, in a press release.

Tour operators have reported that canceled bookings -- “especially from women” -- were mostly from the U.S., Britain, Canada and Australia, Rawat said.

He said the string of high-profile sex crimes “raised concerns about the safety of female travelers to the country,” adding that the cases attracted “international attention.”

He called on his country to strengthen security at major tourist spots, warning that India’s unsavory reputation could inflict “long-term” damage on its $17 billion annual tourism revenues.

About 6.6 million international tourists visited India last year, India’s tourism ministry estimates.

In the Dec. 16 attack, police say the gang lured the 23-year-old victim onto a bus in New Delhi, where they repeatedly raped and assaulted her with a metal bar before throwing her bleeding onto a highway. She died of internal injuries two weeks later.

Related:

5 accused men plead not guilty in India gang rape

India gang-rape victim's father: Hang the 'monsters' responsible

Authorities: Alleged ringleader in India gang rape hangs himself

Dar Yasin / AP

Indian policemen take cover during a gunbattle in Srinagar, the capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir, on March 13, 2013. A team of militants stormed a paramilitary camp Wednesday morning, leaving five soldiers and two militants dead, a police official said.

Dar Yasin / AP

Indian policemen and paramilitary soldiers react during a gunbattle in Srinagar on March 13, 2013.

Reuters reports — Two militants hiding automatic rifles and grenades in cricket equipment opened fire on a paramilitary camp on the Indian side of Kashmir on Wednesday, killing five Indian personnel and wounding five, police said.

The militants were killed in a gunfight at the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) base just outside the restive city of Srinagar, which has been under curfew for much of the last few weeks following protests and clashes with police.

Local media reports said that Hizbul Mujahideen, the bitterly disputed region's largest militant group, had claimed responsibility for the attack, in which three civilians were also wounded.

Police said the gunmen approached the camp by mingling with children playing cricket in a nearby field, hiding their weapons in the cricket gear they were carrying. Once at the camp, they shot a sentry dead and then fired indiscriminately into the base. Read the full story.

EPA

Indian paramilitary soldiers carry a wounded colleague on March 13, 2013.

Kevin Frayer / AP

Hindu holy man Baba Sanjay poses before and after he had his head and face shaved as part of an initiation ritual where he was to become a Naga Sadhu.

Kevin Frayer, a photographer with The Associated Press, took a series of photos of Hindu holy men before and after they had their beards and hair shaved off as part of the initiation ritual to become Naga Sadhus — naked holy men — at the Maha Kumbh Festival in Allahabad, India.

The initiation of new Naga Sadhus can only be performed at the Kumbh Mela, which occurs once every 12 years and sees millions of devotees converging at the confluence of three holy rivers: the Ganges, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati.

Editor's note: Photos taken on Feb. 13, 2013 and made available to NBC News today.

Kevin Frayer / AP

Baba Ramshwal.

Kevin Frayer / AP

Brihaspst Giri.

Kevin Frayer / AP

Baba Vinod.

Kevin Frayer / AP

Baba Giri.

GRAPHIC WARNING: Contains images which some viewers may find disturbing. 

AFP - Getty Images

A man mourns the loss of a relative after a ferry accident in Munshiganj, Bangladesh, on Feb. 8, 2013.

Published at 10:14 a.m. ET: DHAKA, Bangladesh — At least two people died and dozens were rescued after a passenger ferry collided with another ship and capsized Friday on a river in central Bangladesh, dumping as many as 100 people into the water, officials and witnesses said.

Police said the ferry went down on the Meghna River in Munshiganj district, 20 miles south of the capital, Dhaka. By Friday evening, rescuers had recovered the bodies of a child and a woman.

There was confusion over the number of passengers on board the ferry at the time of the accident. Relatives and neighbors at the scene said some people were missing, but authorities would not provide an official list of those who were unaccounted for. Read the full story.

-- The Associated Press

A.M. Ahad / AP

Rescue workers carry the body of a victim ashore on the banks of the Meghna River at Munshiganj on Feb. 8, 2013.

Khurshed Rinku / Reuters

Rescue workers carry the body of a victim after a ferry sank in Munshiganj on Feb. 8, 2013.

Mansi Thapliyal / Reuters

Mahesh Chaturvedi, 63, reads a copy of the Bhagavad-Gita, one of Hinduism's most holy books, on a metro train in New Delhi on October 2, 2012.

63-year-old Mahesh Chaturvedi says that the soul of Mahatma Gandhi resides in him and he has been sent to continue the work of the man known by many Indians as the Father of the Nation, Reuters reports.

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Since his self-proclaimed transformation into Gandhi in 2002, Chaturvedi has traveled extensively, playing up to his resemblance to Gandhi at protests and demonstrations.

Mansi Thapliyal / Reuters

Mahesh Chaturvedi poses for a photo in front of a statue of Gandhi in the old quarters of New Delhi on October 25, 2012.

Mansi Thapliyal / Reuters

Mahesh Chaturvedi (front center) talks on the phone on September 28, 2012.

Mansi Thapliyal / Reuters

A man takes a photo as Mahesh Chaturvedi (back to camera), walks on the streets of New Delhi on September 28, 2012.

Reuters

A visitor takes a closer look at art made from trash picked from Mount Everest at a visual art symposium in Kathmandu on Nov. 20.

KATHMANDU, Nepal -- Fifteen Nepali artists were closeted for a month with a heap of 1.5 tons of trash picked up from Mount Everest. When they emerged, they had transformed the litter into art.

The 75 sculptures, including one of a yak and another of wind chimes, were made from empty oxygen bottles, gas canisters, food cans, torn tents, ropes, crampons, boots, plates, twisted aluminium ladders and torn plastic bags dumped by climbers over decades on the slopes of the world's highest mountain.

Kripa Rana Shahi, director of art group Da Mind Tree, said the sculpting -- and a resulting recent exhibition in the Nepali capital of Kathmandu -- was aimed at spreading awareness about keeping Mount Everest clean.

"Everest is our crown jewel in the world," Shahi said. "We should not take it for granted. The amount of trash there is damaging our pride."

Nearly 4,000 people have climbed the 29,035-foot Mount Everest, many of them several times, since it was first scaled by New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa in 1953.

Although climbers need to deposit $4,000 with the government, which is refunded only after they provide proof of having brought the garbage generated by them from the mountain, activists say effective monitoring is difficult.

PhotoBlog: Nepali teen says she is youngest woman to climb Mount Everest

Climbers returning from the mountain say its slopes are littered with trash, which is buried under the snow during the winter and comes out in the summer when the snow melts.

'Nothing goes to waste in art'
The trash used in the art works was picked up from the mountain by Sherpa climbers in 2011 and earlier this year and carried down by porters and trains of long-haired yaks.

Laurence Tan / Reuters, file

A basket of garbage sits at Everest Base Camp, with the Himalayan range seen in the background, in May 2011.

The yaks were commemorated in one work. For another, empty oxygen cylinders were mounted on a metal frame to make Buddhist prayer wheels.

Another, by wall painter Krishna Bahadur Thing, is a Tibetan mandala painting showing the location of Mount Everest in the universe -- made by sticking yellow, blue and white pieces of discarded beer, food cans and other metals on a round board.

Visitors said they were amazed at the way waste products were turned into useful items.

"It shows that anything can be utilised in an artistic way and nothing goes to waste in art," said 18-year-old fine arts student Siddhartha Pudasaini.

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The art is on sale for prices from $15 to $2,300, with part of the proceeds going to the artists and the rest to the Everest Summiteers' Association, which sponsored the collection of garbage from the mountain, organizers said.

"Garbage on Everest is shameful. We are trying to turn it into gold here," association chief Wangchu Sherpa told Reuters.

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All images by Faisal Mahmood / Reuters

Workers at Pakistan's lone beer maker, Murree Brewery, line up empty beer bottles at the factory in Rawalpindi, Nov. 10, 2012.

Faisal Mahmood, Reuters — Murree Brewery, established in 1860 by British colonial rulers to supply beer to their troops, is desperately looking for business overseas to hedge against its uncertain domestic market. Prohibition was imposed in Pakistan in 1977. Non-Muslims and foreigners must obtain a government permit to purchase alcohol at designated retailers which are mainly upscale hotels.

See more beer related images on PhotoBlog

EDITOR’S NOTE: Images made available to NBC News on Nov. 15.

An employee prepares barley at the Murree Brewery in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Nov. 10.

A Murree Brewery employee checks barrels at the factory in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Nov. 10.

A Murree Brewery guard closes the factory's main gate in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Nov. 10.

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Dar Yasin / AP

Kashmiri villagers grieve during the funeral procession of Shabir Ahmed Mir, a suspected militant of Lashkar-e-Taiba, in Chingam, some 37 miles south of Srinagar, India, on Nov. 14, 2012.

Thousands of people turned out for the funeral of a suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba militant in Indian Kashmir on Wednesday. Shabir Ahmed Mir was killed in a gunbattle with government forces in the restive region on Tuesday, according to police. 

-- The Associated Press

Dar Yasin / AP

Kashmiri villagers pray by the body of Shabir Ahmed Mir on Nov. 14, 2012.

Dar Yasin / AP

Shabir Ahmed Mir's mother holds a glass of milk as she clings to the bed carrying the body of her son during his funeral procession on Nov. 14, 2012.

See more images from Kashmir on PhotoBlog.

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