LAHORE, Pakistan - Center-right Pakistani politician Nawaz Sharif was set to return as his country's prime minister on Monday - his third time in the job - after voters defied deadly Taliban attacks to cast their ballots in record numbers. 

Sharif, who campaigned on restoring Pakistan’s weak economy, was in overnight meetings to form a new government, according to Sen. Pervez Rashid, a spokesman for Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party.

Officials said turnout was over 60 percent, a record in a country where historically less than half of registered voters cast their ballots, according to the Election Commission of Pakistan, the national body tasked with holding elections.  

The election marked another watershed -- it was the first time in the country's 65-year history that a legislature has completed its term, paving the way for the possibility of a peaceful transition of power from one civilian government to the next.

While final election results had not been announced, preliminary results reported on local media appeared to give 63-year-old Sharif a resounding victory.

Sharif defeated telegenic former cricketer Imran Khan’s Movement for Justice party (PTI), who had been campaigning against older, more powerful parties like Sharif’s.  Khan was in a close fight for second place with the Pakistan People’s Party of president Asif Ali Zardari, which just ended its often-criticized rule in Pakistan after five years.

Khan, who was seriously injured in a fall on the eve of the elections, swore from his hospital bed that his party will form a strong opposition, while investigating alleged rigging.

Nevertheless, Fakhruddin Ebrahim, the country's chief election commissioner, congratulated the country on television for holding "historic and free" elections, though he did admit that there were irregularities in Karachi, Pakistan's largest and most violent city.

Protesters from different parties gathered in moderate numbers across the country, demanding an investigation by the election officials against poll rigging.  The Election Commission, in response, called a meeting for investigation rigging allegations for later Monday. 

Still, the mood in Pakistan seems upbeat, as the Karachi Stock Exchange just crossed record levels and breached the 20,000 point barrier.

Conciliatory tone
Sharif struck a conciliatory tone as results rolled in over the weekend.

"I appeal to all to come sit with me at the table so that this nation can get rid of this curse of power cuts, inflation and unemployment," Sharif said according to The Associated Press.

Sharif and his government will have their work cut out for them.  Pakistan suffers from a growing energy crisis, with some areas experiencing power outages for up to 18 hours a day. That has seriously hurt the economy, pushing growth below 4 percent a year.

Pakistan needs a growth rate of twice that to provide jobs for its expanding population of 180 million. They will also have to cope with spiraling violence.

The build up to the polls saw over a 100 people killed in militant attacks, and of Sharif's most urgent problems will be what to do about violent Islamic extremism throughout his country.  His party has been accused of being soft on radicals after not cracking down on violent groups in its stronghold of Punjab province.

The United States has pushed Pakistan for years to take stronger action against fighters whose who attack American troops across the border in Afghanistan.

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Once considered a protege of the country's powerful army, Sharif served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister in the 1990s before his relationship with the military deteriorated. He was ousted in a coup and replaced by General Pervez Musharraf in 1999, and exiled to Saudi Arabia.

Known to be a religious conservative personally, Sharif's first term in office was marked by efforts to increase the role of Islam in government, including trying to introduce Shariah law through parliament.

Pakistan also became a nuclear state during his second term in office. Sharif also built a reputation for launching large-scale, economic initiatives to spur development, including power, transportation, and technology projects.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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A former playboy cricketer and an ex-prime minister who was deposed by a military coup and then exiled will square off in a historic general election this weekend as Pakistan elects a new leader.

When Pakistanis head to the polls on Saturday, it will mark the first time in the country's 65-year history that a legislature has completed its term, paving the way for the possibility of a peaceful transition of power from one civilian government to the next.

The nuclear-armed country has been ruled by the military for half its history. Secretary of State John Kerry has met Pakistani army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani twice in the last five weeks, underlining how crucial Washington views the relationship. However, the 2011 raid to kill Osama bin Laden and U.S. drone strikes targeting militants have damaged ties.

Of the nation's 90 million potential voters, 40 million could be voting for the first time. The general election comes as the country battles domestic insurgencies, a floundering economy, and unpredictability across the border in Afghanistan. 

In a campaign punctuated by violence -- including the gunpoint kidnapping of a leading politician's son at a political rally on Thursday -- uncertainty still prevails. Here is a look at the key players in this weekend's contest.

TOPPLED, EXILED, RESURRECTED? Nawaz Sharif

Once considered a protege of the country's powerful army, Sharif served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister in the 1990s before his relationship with the military deteriorated. He was ousted in a coup and replaced by General Pervez Musharraf in 1999, and exiled to Saudi Arabia.

Polls suggest he could make a comeback in a very close and still shifting contest.

Known to be a religious conservative personally, Sharif's first term in office was marked by efforts to increase the role of Islam in government, including trying to introduce Shariah law through parliament.

Pakistan became a nuclear state during his second term in office. Sharif also built a reputation for launching large-scale, economic initiatives to spur development, including power, transportation, and technology projects.

Aamir Qureshi / AFP/ Getty Images

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif waves to supporters during an election campaign meeting in Rawalpindi on Tuesday

Now the leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party, the 63-year-old finds his base of support in the country's largest, most populous province of Punjab. 

Shamila Chaudhary, former director for Pakistan and Afghanistan at the White House National Security Council, said Sharif was likely to need to build a coalition government, which would help to define his policies.

"When Sharif was last in power, he engaged with the United States at a time when the bilateral relationship was not so heavily defined by terrorism and the war in Afghanistan," said Chaudhary, who is now a senior analyst at the Eurasia Group. "His hands will be tied in how much he can pursue on security cooperation without it being at the expense of the support he will need in parliament to sustain his coalition, if he wins."

Reuters noted that Sharif "has been accused of failing to act against militant groups which have a breeding ground in Punjab" and that is "one of the few major politicians not on the hit-list of Taliban insurgents who have vowed to disrupt the elections."

The Associated Press added:

Sharif's party controlled the government of Pakistan's largest province, Punjab, in 2011 when it turned down more than $100 million in U.S. aid following the raid that killed bin Laden. 

It quoted Maleeha Lodhi, a former Pakistani ambassador to the U.S., as saying it appeared unlikely that Sharif would give up the more than $1 billion in American aid Pakistan receives annually if he came to power.

THE SPORTS LEGEND: Imran Khan

The former world-class cricketer and philanthropist has made a 16-year journey to come as close as he's ever been to the top office.

Khan is riding a wave of support for his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), or Movement for Justice party, particularly among Pakistan's younger voters.

Rehan Khan / EPA

Former cricket star Imran Khan (center) is mobbed by supporters at a rally in Karachi, Pakistan, on Tuesday.

Dismissed in previous campaigns as a non-contender, the charismatic Khan has this time managed to translate his national popularity into support at the polls by selling himself as the anti-establishment man. He's juggled a sometimes-extremist message to appeal to Pakistan's conservative base with a social media campaign to mobilize much of the country's disenfranchised youth.

However, Khan's ideas -- which include the cessation of all hostilities with militants and a halt to CIA drone attacks  -- have earned him the teasing but telling moniker "Taliban Khan" from members of the country's Westernized elite.

A fiery and frenetic campaigner, Khan tumbled from a platform at a rally in Lahore this week, surviving with a few fractures. However, he was forced to suspend his final campaign events.

Without a traditional, regional base of support, as the other parties have, the 60-year-old Khan has been forced to carve out inroads into opposition territory. He hopes that will translate into enough votes to remain influential in a possible coalition government.

A survey released on Wednesday showed 24.98 percent of voters nationally planned to vote for Khan's party, just a whisker behind Sharif's PML-N.

Khan began his campaign by refusing to join any coalition, then softened his stance to say he'd consider coalitions with smaller parties. His position could evolve again in the coming days.

"Khan has made himself a force to be reckoned with, he can't be dismissed as he was in the past," Chaudhary said. "They [his party] may not get that many seats, but they've made the PML-N and PPP (Pakistan People's Party) worried about their chances."

Khan, who helped Pakistan win the cricket World Cup in 1992, has vowed to crack down on corruption.

His party's manifesto says "Pakistan will endeavor to have a constructive relationship with the U.S. based on Pakistan's sovereign national interests and international law, not on aid dependency." 

THE POTENTIAL KINGMAKER: Asif Ali Zardari

The widower of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto inherited her family's political legacy and base of support in the southern province of Sindh.

He led the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) party to power after his wife's assassination in 2007 and became the president of Pakistan.

Vahid Salemi / AP

Asif Ali Zardari

The party's government made history as the first to complete a five-year term in office, but was marred by accusations of ineptitude and corruption as the country spiraled into an energy shortage, economic crisis, and security strife.

Zardari fought off several attempts to unsettle or unseat him, led in part by the country's Supreme Court which sought to revive old corruption charges. His government, and party, suffered several high-level shake-ups as a result, but Zardari managed to survive.

It is Zardari's skill as a shrewd politician and his ability to cut deals with other parties that some believe could make him, and his party, key influencers in forming the next government of Pakistan, even if they don't win a majority.

"The bottom line is, you can't actually discount the PPP," Chaudhary said. "People think they're done, they're unpopular, they did a bad job, but they'll have a fair amount of influence because of their relationship with other parties."

The Associated Press noted: 

Zardari and the PPP have always struggled with a domestic perception that they are American stooges — an unpopular position in a country where anti-American sentiment is widespread. The view from Washington, though, has been that Pakistan is not doing enough to combat militancy within its borders. 

CONNECTORS & DISRUPTORS:

In a tight election where the margin of victory may be slim, the weeks that follow the vote will be the most important, as party leaders negotiate to form a functioning coalition government.

Reuters explained:

Voters will elect 272 members of the National Assembly and to win a simple majority, a party would have to take 137 seats. 

However, the election is complicated by the fact that a further 70 seats, most reserved for women and members of non- Muslim minorities, are allocated to parties on the basis of their performance in the contested constituencies. To have a majority of the total of 342, a party would need 172. 

In a coalition scenario, second-tier operators like Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain (leader of the PML(Q) party) and Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman (leader of the JUI(F) party) could become key dealmakers and both have histories of working with players along the entire political spectrum to maintain political relevancy.

Smaller parties like the MQM, led by leader-in-exile Altaf Hussain, and the ANP, headed by Pashtun leader Asfandyar Wali, have been relentlessly targeted by the Pakistani Taliban, and could throw off the balance of power by boycotting the elections or the political dealmaking that follows as a form of protest.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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This story was originally published on Fri May 10, 2013 3:38 AM EDT

The son of former Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani was kidnapped at gunpoint during an election rally on Thursday, officials said.

Ali Haider Gilani, whose father was prime minister from 2008 to 2012, was seized by several armed men in Multan in central Pakistan. The Gilanis are members of the liberal PPP party.

Punjab government official Rao Iftikhar Ahmad told The Associated Press that one of Gilani's guards was killed and five people were wounded in the attack. The figures could not immediately be confirmed by NBC News.

"One of the gunmen grabbed Haider who had blood splashed on his trousers," witness Shehryar Ali told Pakistani television broadcaster Geo News. 

An intelligence official said that authorities were hunting "four to five kidnappers in a black car."

Fawad Hussein / EPA, file

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani is seen here in 2011. His son was kidnapped on Thursday.

It was not immediately known who abducted Gilani or why.  The Pakistani Taliban has vowed to disrupt Saturday's election.

Taliban spokesman Ihsanullah Ihsan said that candidates, party leaders and activists would be attacked by dozens of suicide bombers and other fighters.

The militants have warned people to stay away from polling stations on the day of the vote and warned government officials not to carry out election duties.

Pakistan’s president, Asif Ali Zardari, has written a letter to the Election Commission, demanding better security for liberal parties.

Since April, the Pakistani Taliban have killed more than 70 people in attacks targeting three major political parties, preventing many of their most prominent candidates from openly campaigning, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

The Taliban say they are targeting "secular" parties and that elections only "serve the interests of infidels and enemies of Islam," the news service said. Right-wing religious parties that have joined the election race have been largely left alone by the militants.

On Tuesday, former cricket star Imran Khan, who is now the chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, was injured in a fall from a platform at an election rally.

Saturday's election will mark the first time in the country's 65-year history that a legislature has completed its term, paving the way for the possibility of a peaceful transition of power from one civilian government to the next.

NBC News' Mushtaq Yusufzai and Ian Johnston, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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LAHORE, Pakistan -- Sports-star-turned-politician Imran Khan was injured after he plunged from a forklift that was taking him up to a stage at a political rally just days before Pakistan’s parliamentary election.

A video of the fall showed Khan and three security guards standing precariously on the platform as it rose up, then suddenly toppling over at about 7 p.m. local time Tuesday (10 a.m. ET) at the rally in Lahore. Police estimate that Khan and his bodyguards fell from a height of 20-25 feet.

Athar Hussain / Reuters

Imran Khan, seen speaking to supporters in Karachi on Tuesday, was later injured in a fall at another political rally.

Khan, the chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, was then taken to a local hospital for treatment.

"He fell, hit his head on the grill, and started bleeding. The chairman has been taken to a hospital, please pray for his health," said a message on Khan's Facebook page.

Thousands of well-wishers gathered outside Shaukat Khanum Hospital. Local police have ruled out foul play.

A doctor at the hospital said Khan is in stable condition and in good spirits. He suffered no internal injuries and his spinal chord is OK, but he did sustain a fracture in his back. He will be kept at least overnight. 

The May 11 election is being held amid tight security because of the risk of being attacked by the Pakistani Taliban.

Since April, the Pakistani Taliban have killed more than 70 people in attacks targeting three major political parties, preventing many of their most prominent candidates from openly campaigning, Reuters reported.

The Taliban say they are targeting "secular" parties and that elections only "serve the interests of infidels and enemies of Islam," the news service said.

However, they have mostly not attacked Khan's party, which advocates shooting down U.S. drones and withdrawing the Pakistani military from insurgency-infested Pashtun areas along the Afghan border, Reuters said. Right-wing religious parties that have joined the election race have also been largely left alone by the militants.

Khan made his name playing cricket, a hugely popular sport in Pakistan. He is regarded as one of the best players in the history of the game.

His political campaign has made great use of social media; his Facebook page currently has 822,000 likes.

NBC News' Ian Johnston and Reuters contributed to this report.

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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- A prosecutor investigating the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was shot dead in a “targeted killing” in Islamabad on Friday, police sources said.

Several attackers on motorcycles and in a taxi opened fire on Chaudhry Zulfikar’s car as he drove to work at about 7 a.m. local time (10 p.m. ET on Thursday), the sources said.

His guard, a paramilitary soldier provided by the government, and a woman on the side of the road were both shot and wounded in the attack. The woman was also hit by Zulfikar’s white Toyota when it veered off the road.

Security expert Amir Rana told Reuters that Zulfikar was probably a marked man because he had been prosecuting militants who were jailed in connection with Bhutto's death or other cases.

Bhutto was killed in a gun and suicide bomb attack carried out by a 15-year-old boy after an election rally in the city of Rawalpindi, just weeks after she returned to Pakistan from years in self-imposed exile in a bid to reclaim office.

Bhutto was a fierce critic of Pakistan's Taliban and Islamist groups that had been supported by some elements of Pakistan's military.

Her death was one of the most shocking events in the country's turbulent history, and had a similar impact on the nation as the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy in the United States.

Speculation has lingered that Bhutto was the victim of a plot by allies of General Pervez Musharraf, the president at the time, who did not want her to come to power.

Zulfikar was also the prosecutor investigating the 2008 attacks on India's commercial capital, Mumbai, in which 166 people were killed. India said militants based in Pakistan were behind the three-day rampage.

The killing of the prosecutor comes days after a Pakistani court put Musharraf on a 14-day judicial remand for charges of failing to provide adequate security for Bhutto before her assassination.

The former army chief, who has always denied responsibility for Bhutto's death, returned to Pakistan in March after nearly four years of self-imposed exile to contest the May 11 general election. But he has since been banned from politics for life.

In 2010, a United Nations Commission of Inquiry report concluded security arrangements for Bhutto were “fatally insufficient and ineffective” and that the investigation of her death had been “prejudiced,” describing it as a whitewash.

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In a statement issued about the report, the U.N. said the government “was quick to blame local Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud and al Qaeda although Ms. Bhutto’s foes potentially included elements from the establishment itself.”

“A range of government officials failed profoundly in their efforts first to protect Ms. Bhutto and second to investigate with vigor all those responsible for her murder, not only in the execution of the attack, but also in its conception, planning and financing,” the commission said.

“Responsibility for Ms. Bhutto’s security on the day of her assassination rested with the federal government, the government of Punjab and the Rawalpindi District Police,” it added. “None of these entities took necessary measures to respond to the extraordinary, fresh and urgent security risks that they knew she faced.”

Reuters contributed to this report.

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This story was originally published on Fri May 3, 2013 5:08 AM EDT

Nisar Ahmad / AP

Afghans carry the body of a policeman killed in a border clash with Pakistani troops on Thursday.

An Afghan border police officer was killed and two Pakistani soldiers were injured during a prolonged firefight on the troubled border between the two countries, officials said.

Pakistan’s Foreign Office said in a statement that it had summoned an Afghan embassy official to protest what it called an “unprovoked firing incident” at a disputed border gate late Wednesday.

“Two Frontier Constabulary soldiers got injured as a result of the heavy fire directly targeting the post,” the statement said. “Pakistan security forces exercised maximum restraint and communicated first to the Afghan side about this serious violation through military channels.”

“This is not the first time that the heavy fire was initiated from the Afghan side causing heavy injury and damage to the Pakistani structures,” it added.

Afghan Ministry of Interior spokesman Sidiq Sidiqqi said the fighting continued into early Thursday.

“One [Afghan] border policeman was killed. Pakistani and Afghan local officials are holding talks to ease the situation,” he said.

The latest tensions are focused on Pakistan's building of the military gate at Gursal that Afghan officials say is inside Afghanistan, Reuters reported. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has ordered his top officials to take immediate action to remove the gate and other "Pakistani military installations near the Durand Line."

The Durand Line is the 1893 British-mandated border between the two countries. It is recognized by Pakistan but not by Afghanistan. Afghanistan maintains that activity by either side along the Durand Line must be approved by both countries.

Afghans living near the border with Pakistan praised what they saw as Kabul's decision to stand up to Islamabad.

"Our security forces have done a great job standing up to Pakistan. We are proud because Pakistan keeps on pushing us and will try and occupy us some day. I'm angry about the situation but glad we have acted,” Mohammed Sabil, a taxi driver, said.

Gula Jan, who works at a gas station near the border, said: "We thought Afghanistan could not do anything against Pakistan -- that we were turning into slaves of Pakistan, but now we know that isn't true, and I back the Afghan government's actions.”

Afghanistan has grown increasingly frustrated with Pakistan over efforts to pursue an Afghan peace process involving the Taliban, suggesting that Islamabad is intent on keep Afghanistan unstable, Reuters reported.

Afghan officials say Pakistan has a long history of supporting Afghanistan's Taliban and other insurgent factions, the news service noted. Pakistan has in turn accused Afghanistan of giving safe haven to militants on the Afghan side of the border.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Aqeel Ahmed / AP

People watch "Zero Dark Thirty" outside a computer shop in Abbottabad, Pakistan, the town where Osama bin Laden was found hiding when American special forces killed him in May 2011. The Academy Award-nominated film appears unlikely to be shown on the local big screen anytime soon.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan –“Very Zero, Very Dark” reads one Pakistani film review.

“Zero IQ Thirty” another headline screams.

But just like Osama Bin Laden, the subject of the Oscar contender that recreates the most expensive manhunt in history, "Zero Dark Thirty" is not supposed to be in Pakistan.

The film has not been released, officially. Thus, there is no response, officially, from Pakistani government censors to Kathryn Bigelow's controversial depiction of Pakistan. Therefore, technically, no one in Pakistan is supposed to have ever seen the movie. 

AFP - Getty Images, file

Local actors perform on the set of Kathryn Bigelow's film "Zero Dark Thirty," in Chandigarh, India.

But in reality, "Zero Dark Thirty" is being watched, noticed, slammed and unofficially banned, even while trending on Twitter.

Some of the backlash in the mainstream press here was balanced.

“Though sharp in its production and direction and largely accurate in depicting the events that led to the death of Osama Bin Laden,” wrote respected columnist, Nadeem Farooq Paracha, in Dawn newspaper. “It went ballistic bad in depicting everyday life on the streets of Pakistan.”

Paracha says that the movie may be designed to embarrass Pakistan, its people, its military and even its distinct culture.  Or it might be simply a victim of sloppy research, he mused.

The journalist lists what he believes are the films goofs: The Pakistanis sound like an Indianized Arabic speakers (they are not). They eat hummus (which Pakistanis largely don’t). A character in the movie claims that nobody in Pakistan drives SUVs (people love their SUVs here).

But what triggered more questions about the movie's message and motive here was when the country’s major cinema players decided not to buy the film from international distributors.

“As a local distributor, there was no financial viability for me. The film was already widely available in the [pirated] DVD market,” said Mohsin Yaseen, general manager of Cinepax, the largest multiplex chain in Pakistan . “But as a film buff, the movie was inaccurate about Pakistan. If you’re going to say something about a complicated part of the world, then you should say it right.”

But Nadeem Mandviwalla, chief executive of Mandviwalla Entertainment, who has been buying and distributing Hollywood blockbusters for three decades in Pakistan, played down the hype.

“This whole ‘ban, ban, ban’ bit is a scam. It’s an assumption and just pure hype that’s perfectly timed for Oscar season,” Mandviwalla said. “There is no politics [regarding screening "Zero Dark Thirty"]. There are tons of movies that don’t make it here. It’s not a political decision the army or the ISI [Pakistan's intelligence agency] makes for us. We, as businessmen, make it. And it was bad business modeling to bring this movie to Pakistan.”

Jonathan Olley / Columbia Pictures via AP

Jessica Chastain starred in "Zero Dark Thirty."

But on the ground, reality has matched the fiction featured in the 157-minute thriller.  In Islamabad, the movie was widely available in local DVD stores until mid-January, offered with either the original cover art or a locally designed version featuring bin Laden and current al-Qaida chief Ayman al-Zawahri.

Things are different now.

“We were asked to stop selling the movie by some guys a couple of weeks after we started stocking it,” said an attendant at Illusions, a popular movie and music retailer in Islamabad’s upscale Jinnah Super arcade.

“There were four of them. Two stood outside, as if on guard, and two came inside and told us that 'Zero Dark Thirty' was banned,” said the man who asked not to be named because for his own security. “They said they were from Aabpara [the local neighborhood that headquarters the ISI]. They asked us to send the DVDs back to the warehouse, and they took a few discs back for themselves.”

“They were very polite,” he added.

("Zero Dark Thirty" is distributed in some parts of the world by Universal Pictures, which is owned by NBC Universal.)

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This story was originally published on Thu Feb 21, 2013 5:16 AM EST

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- In Pakistan's complicated and multiple insurgencies, killing is cyclical.

The onset of winter traditionally marks the end of the militants' "fighting season" and heralds a lull in attacks.

But this year is different. Pakistan is facing an extraordinary surge in terrorist activity.

The country is reeling from an intense spate of organized militancy that has crossed international borders and morphed from an anti-Western jihad in Afghanistan to an anti-state and sectarian movement deep inside Pakistan. 

The increasingly sophisticated and high-profile attacks have killed scores. They include at least 114 people who were slain in a series of attacks on Jan. 10, a day which was later dubbed "Black Thursday."

This uptick in violence in Pakistan comes as Islamabad is trying to improve its relationship with Kabul and Washington. It is seen as a message from insurgents: They are not going anywhere.

"With the end in sight, and the ground for final talks being laid across the border in Afghanistan, and by default in our badlands, too, everyone wants a piece," said Gibran Peshimam, political editor at the Express Tribune newspaper and a fellow at the Reuters Institute at Oxford University. "And those who were bound by circumstance are now at each others' throats for a piece of the pie."

One human rights group has warned that sectarian violence targeting Pakistan's Shiite Muslims was rising.

Speaking to Reuters in the aftermath of "Black Thursday,"  Ali Dayan Hasan of Pakistan Human Rights Watch said:

"Last year was the bloodiest year for Shias in living memory. More than 400 were killed and if [the Jan. 10] attack is any indication, its just going to get worse."  ...

The roughly 500,000-strong Shia Hazara community in Quetta are routinely hunted by extremist groups because their ethnically distinct features make them an easy target, Dayan said. 

"They live in a state of siege. Stepping out of the ghetto means risking death."

The impact of the "Black Thursday" attacks was felt nationally, with relatives of the victims refusing to bury their dead for four days and staging a downtown sit-in, forcing an executive decision by the prime minister and president to sack the province's elected government for ineptness.

Although 14-year-old education activist Malala Yousafzai survived a point-blank shooting which provoked international attention and outrage, there has been no shortage of deadly incidents since the Taliban targeted her in October.

By mid-December, Pakistan's gradient of terror became remarkably steep, and continues to rise.

Women and children now fair game
On December 15, a sophisticated, multi-stage suicide-bomber and sniper attack on Peshawar airport and an air force base triggered concerns about the ability of the country's nuclear-armed military to protect itself.

Two days later, the Taliban would claim responsibility for the deadliest car bombing of 2012. Women and children were among 21 killed in Jamrud.

On December 18 and 19, drive-by shootings targeting health workers -- who were part of a national immunization drive to treat children with much-needed polio vaccines -- would claim the lives of eight people, most of them young women.

The following weekend, one the Taliban's most vocal critics would be silenced. Veteran politician Bashir Bilour, a senior government minister, was among nine victims of a suicide bombing in Peshawar. The Taliban would claim responsibility, pledging to continue targeting secular politicians like Bilour.

And just before New Year's Eve, 22 of the 23 paramilitary soldiers kidnapped during a daring militant attack on their posts near Khyber turned up dead. They were executed without any ransom demand being received.

Militants would continue to target women, killing seven health workers on New Year's Day -- newfound misogyny in a region that, though historically volatile, has long respected women's safety as non-combatants. Seven more army soldiers, who were abducted while returning from vacation to join their unit, would be killed on January 2 in Attock.

As Afghanistan's endgame evolves, the matrix of hostilities changes in Pakistan as well -- where women and children are now considered fair game by insurgents. The plot thickens and the terrible surprises continue.

"There are a large number of players and an increasing number of attacks in a lot of different areas, with a lot of different agendas with no real common element," the journalist Peshimam added. "It would be safe to say there are a lot of different quarters that need to be satiated. And fast. If they can't be appeased, then the armed forces will need to lock and load."

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An A to Z guide to the Islamic Republic of 'Banistan' 

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Pakistan was plunged into a fresh political crisis Tuesday after its judiciary ordered the arrest of the prime minister over corruption allegations amid ongoing public protests.

The country’s Supreme Court ordered the detention of Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and others accused of involvement in kickbacks over the construction of power stations  -- a surprise development in an ongoing investigation.

It comes as tens of thousands of protesters occupy streets in the capital, Islamabad, demanding the resignation of the entire government.

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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The demonstrators have pledged to remain on the streets in support of a populist cleric, who some allege is backed by the military.

The court's decision is likely to underline the demands of of Muhammad Tahirul Qadri, who is seeking a crackdown on corruption and other reforms.

Thousands of of his supporters marched on the city Monday, promising to join the local demonstrators to establish a local version of Cairo's Tahrir Square in a bid to oust the government.

Ashraf is nicknamed 'Raja Rental' by local media because of his alleged involvement in corruption over the introduction of so-called 'rental power plants' - independently-owned plants that sold energy to the state in a bid to close a growing demand-supply gap. 

Ashraf was the water and power minister at the time of their introduction. The schemes were ruled illegal by a court 12 months ago because of a lack of transparency,

He is the second prime minister installed by the regime of President Zardari - and the second to face a court order. The first, Yousuf Gillani, was removed by the Supreme Court last year for his failure to investigate corruption allegations against Zardari.

Leading Pakistan constitutional lawyer Salman Raja told NBC News he believed Ashraf would remain prime minister, "even in jail."

"He is not likely to be convicted anytime soon," he said."With his arrest the entire democratic project will suffer. And Mr. Qadri's theme will get underlined, conveniently."

He also questioned the timing of the court's announcement, coming amid the major public protests. "They could have done made this order next week. or three months ago, but they chose to pass it here, today."

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Crowds gather outside the Bhutto family mausoleum in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh on Thursday.

GARHI KHUDA BAKHSH, Pakistan --  In a country where ethnicity is more important than nationalism, little is celebrated collectively other than the odd cricket victory, and most fallen heroes are forgotten or berated, the commemoration of assassinated Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has gone the other direction and is verging on deification.

Since Bhutto’s death on Dec. 27, 2007, the region’s deep obsession with mysticism and the occult has evolved to incorporate her legacy.

“I’m here because the ‘martyred queen’ was there for us,” said Mustafa, a police officer from Bhutto’s nearby hometown of Larkana who volunteered to oversee security during a rally last week at a massive Bhutto mausoleum, a modern rendition of the Taj Mahal.

As Mustafa talked, electricity seemed to fill what is now Pakistan's most politicized tomb, with nearly a quarter of a million followers thronging to Bhutto’s ancestral graveyard. It was Pakistan’s State of the Union, Woodstock and Thanksgiving Day Parade, all rolled into one.

Wajahat S. Khan / NBC News

The Bhutto family mausoleum in Garhi Dera Bakhsh in the southern province of Sindh, Pakistan.

“I have this honor to serve in uniform because she bequeathed it,” the 29-year-old Mustafa told NBC News, as house music remixed with Sufi poetry and Bhutto’s own speeches rang through state-of-the-art speakers in a walled-off compound the size of a dozen football fields. 

The posthumous granting of titular royalty upon Bhutto is hardly surprising. Bhutto’s brand of populism raged in the days leading to the main event -- a speech on Thursday by her son, 24-year old Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, which propelled him into the rough and tumble mainstream of Pakistani politics.

An A to Z guide to the Islamic Republic of 'Banistan'

Considered Pakistan’s most important political dynasty, the Bhuttos have crafted a critical brand over nearly five decades: Ivy Leaguers with feudal holdings; anti-military progressives with Islamic leanings; minority Sindhis who have challenged the Punjabi majority; loud and proud Shiites in an increasingly tense and sectarian Sunni country -- a modern cross between the Kennedys, the Tudors and the landed rajas of the subcontinent.

Bhutto's assassination just reinforced the existing cult of martyrdom widely followed by many in her constituency in the Sindh province and throughout Pakistan, according to Raza Rumi, who directs policy for The Jinnah Institute, one of Pakistan's leading and more liberal think tanks.

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President Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of assassinated former premier Benazir Bhutto, embraces his son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari outside the Bhutto family mausoleum in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh, Pakistan, on Thursday.

"The legends and myths of famous Muslim sacrifices through the centuries have set the parameter for this religious/magical/political framework that now dominates her narrative," he said. 

Hashish, whiskey
At last week's rally, the smell of hashish and whiskey whiffed from dark corners, mixing exotically with the aroma of the langar, a makeshift community cafeteria designed to feed thousands. But it was the combination of mysticism and politics that make the growing movement surrounding the Bhutto legacy unique.  

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Dilawar, 28, and Samina, 20, who had trekked from neighboring Dadu with their 2-year-old child, swore about the magical powers of “Bibi Shaheed,” which translates from Urdu as “Martyred Lady.”

“It was this annual ziarat and dua (pilgrimage and prayers) to her grave that made our baby come into the world. Our conditions got better. That’s why we come every year,” Dilawar told NBC News.

7 aid workers shot and killed in Pakistan

Speaker after speaker took to the 40-feet high stage protected by bulletproof glass. “One Zardari outweighs them all!” the crowd chanted.

The reference was for the man who had just landed via helicopter, the current president and Bhutto’s widower, Asif Ali Zardari, who has managed to keep her party -- Pakistan’s most popular -- intact and in command, but barely, of the nation’s divided and war-torn polity.

'Modern political goddess'
"[During the] last five years, the death anniversary of Bhutto has turned out to be a bigger event than many actual mainstream religious events across Pakistan," said Rumi, the policy analyst. "That's phenomenal politics. The invocation of Sufi legends with a modern political goddess have altered the spiritual consciousness of the rural population." 

Slideshow: Pakistan: A nation in turmoil

Muhammed Muheisen / AP

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

Launch slideshow

The credit for sustaining the Bhutto brand through the institutionalization of this commemorative rally goes to Zardari. In a country accustomed to military coups, he has almost completing the full term of an elected civilian government for the first time since the Pakistan's independence 65 years ago.

Can social media propel 'rock star' politician Imran Khan to power in Pakistan?

While Zardari is considered one of Pakistan's sharpest political operatives, he is less popular than Bhutto was, and spent the years between 1996 to 2004 in jail on corruption charges that he says were politically motivated. But as he grooms his son to take over the country's largest political party, he continues to be locked in a power struggle with the judiciary as well as the so-called deep state, local parlance for the military establishment.

At the rally, which his government branded “The Day of Martyrdom," the hundreds of thousands greeted Zardari with a roar of approval as he pledged free elections in a country unaccustomed to them.

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