Quetta: Two bombings at the election offices of a political party and an independent candidate in south-west Pakistan killed at least 29 people and wounded more than two dozen others, officials said on Wednesday, the day before parliamentary elections are to be held.
Security officials examine the scene of a bomb blast in Pakistan one day before elections are held.Credit: AP
The first attack happened in Pashin, a district in Baluchistan province, said Jan Achakzai, the spokesperson for the provincial government. Officials said at least 17 people were killed in the attack and more than 20 wounded people were taken to a nearby hospital, some in a critical condition.
Later on Wednesday, another bombing at the election office of politician Fazlur Rehman’s Jamiat Ulema Islam party in Qilla Saifullah town of Baluchistan killed at least 12 people, Acahkzai and local authorities said.
JUI is one of the leading radical Islamist party and is known for backing the Afghan Taliban. JUI’s religious schools are spread across the country, especially in the northwest and Baluchistan bordering Afghanistan.
Many of Afghanistan’s Taliban leaders studied at Islamic seminaries operated by JUI, yet Rehman and his party leaders in recent years have been attacked by the Islamic State group and other militants.
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Rehman and scores of candidates from his party are contesting the elections from various parts of Pakistan.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks, which came a day before Pakistan holds parliamentary elections.
Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul-Haq-Kakar denounced the bombings in Baluchistan, and conveyed his condolences to the families of those who died. He vowed that “every attempt to sabotage the law and order situation will be thwarted” and said the government is committed to holding elections in peace.
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