With tens of thousands displaced from the tribal regions, most candidates vying to represent constituencies there have campaigned in other cities such as Dera Ismail Khan.
"Due to the war, people's houses were destroyed," Moulana Jamal Uddin, a candidate from South Waziristan, told Reuters by phone.
"I appeal to the people of South Waziristan to vote," he said.
Khan Ullah, a 42-year-old shop owner, said he has avoided political gatherings in Dera Ismail Khan because he feared an attack on them was a real possibility.
(Reporting by Saud Mehsud in Dera Ismail Khan; writing by Ariba Shahid in Karachi; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
Persons:
Saud Mehsud DERA ISMAIL, Ullah Mehsud, Mehsud, Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan's, Amjad Khan, Khan, hometowns, Maulana Raheem Ullah, Moulana Jamal Uddin, Khan Ullah, Saud Mehsud, Ariba Shahid, Raju Gopalakrishnan
Organizations:
Reuters, Pakhtunkhwa, Pak Institute, Peace Studies, Force
Locations:
Saud Mehsud DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan, South Waziristan, Qaeda, U.S, Afghanistan, Waziristan, Khyber, Taliban Pakistan, Balochistan, KP, Karachi