Pakistanis began voting on Wednesday in a knife-edge general election between former cricketer Imran Khan against the party of jailed ex-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Reuters witnesses and national media reported.

Most forecasters are predicting a hung parliament that will require a coalition government as the razor thin polling lead by Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party over Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is unlikely to result in a majority from the 272 elected seats in the National Assembly.