Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif appealed to all parties to join him in tackling Pakistan’s problems after securing victory in historic elections that defied Taliban violence.

Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif appealed to all parties to join him in tackling Pakistan's problems after securing victory in historic elections that defied Taliban violence.

The party of former cricket star Imran Khan -- whose promises to end corruption resonated with middle-class and youth voters -- conceded defeat but vowed to form the next provincial government in the restive northwest, where Khan has vowed to end US drone strikes.

The landmark polls mark the first time an elected civilian administration completed a full term to hand power to another through the ballot box, in a country where there have been three military coups and four military rulers.

According to the private TV network Geo, Sharif's centre-right Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) was leading the race with 126 seats and Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had 34.

With just 32 seats so far, the Bhutto clan's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) -- which led the outgoing government with 125 seats in the old national assembly -- was relegated to a humiliating third place.

Sharif gave a victory speech late Saturday to hundreds of jubilant supporters at PML-N headquarters in Lahore.

"We should thank Allah that he has given PML-N another chance to serve you and Pakistan," he said, after nearly 60 percent of the 86 million electorates turned out to vote despite polling day attacks by the Taliban that left 24 dead.

Prime minister twice before in the 1990s, Sharif's historic third term will begin only after he brokers a deal with political rivals to form a coalition.

Besides the 342-member national assembly, voters also elected four provincial assemblies in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Sindh and Baluchistan.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is a hotbed of militancy. Both Sharif and Khan have vowed to talk to the Taliban and have tapped into the Pakistani public's deep hatred of the US drone war against extremists on the Afghan border.

More than 600,000 security personnel deployed to protect the vote and Pakistan sealed its border with Afghanistan and Iran to boost security after pre-election violence killed at least 127 people, according to an Agence France Presse tally.