Two explosions near electoral candidates’ offices in Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan killed 26 people and wounded dozens yesterday, officials said, raising concerns over security on the eve of a general election.
Pakistan goes to the polls today amid rising militant attacks and the jailing of Imran Khan, the winner of the last national election, who has been dominating the headlines despite an economic crisis and other woes threatening the country. Authorities have said they are boosting security at polling booths.
The first attack, which killed 14 people, took place at the office of an independent election candidate in Pishin district.
The second explosion in Qilla Saifullah, near the Afghan border, detonated near an office of Jamiat Ulema Islam (JUI), a religious party that has previously been the target of militant attacks, according to the province’s information minister.
The deputy commissioner of Qilla Saifullah, Yasir Bazai, said 12 people were killed and 25 wounded by a device planted on a motorcycle parked near the office.
It was not immediately clear who was behind the attacks. Khanzai hospital, close to the site of the explosion in Pishin, put the death toll at 14.
The deputy commissioner of Pishin district, Jumma Dad Khan, said the blast had wounded many people. “I’m appalled by today’s terrorist attacks and condemn those seeking to prevent people from voting,” British High Commissioner to Pakistan Jane Marriott said.
The attacks came as political parties wrapped up their campaigning in the quiet period mandated by electoral rules the day before the election.
Khan, in a message from jail, earlier urged his supporters to wait outside polling booths after casting their votes, as rival political parties held rallies to mark the end of the campaign period.
“Encourage the maximum number of people to vote, wait at the polling station ... and then stay peacefully outside the Returning Officer’s office until the final results are announced,” said Khan on social media platform X.
His Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party also released a video of Khan recorded just days before he was arrested in August, calling on people to turn out to vote.
Body Copy: Electoral frontrunner Nawaz Sharif led a huge rally in the eastern city of Kasur with his brother, former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif, who is running in that constituency. Sharif, also a former prime minister, called on the country’s youth to support his party and took aim at Khan. “Don’t fall for him,” Sharif said.
Supporters of the rival Pakistan People’s Party also gathered in the city of Larkana led by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who could play kingmaker if no single party receives enough parliamentary seats to form a government outright.
The former foreign minister and son of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto criticised opponents, for what he described as compromising the country’s security and economy during their tenures.
&uuid=(email))