Ahead of the elections, two Bomb Blast Outside Pakistan Election Candidate Office. According to sources, 24 causalities are reported. A local official told the news outlet that the death toll in the attack is likely to increase.
The first attack, which killed 14, took place at the office of an independent election candidate in Pishin district in the Balochistan region.
The second explosion in Qilla Saifullah, a town 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. A religious party is frequently subjected to militant attacks, leading to at least 10 fatalities.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Several groups, including the Islamist militant Pakistani Taliban and separatist groups from Balochistan, oppose the Pakistani state and have carried out a spate of attacks in recent months.
The attacks came despite the deployment of tens of thousands of police and paramilitary forces across Pakistan to ensure police following a recent surge in militant attacks, especially in Balochistan.
On Monday at least 10 police personnel were killed and six others injured in a pre-dawn attack by militants on a police station in the northwestern Draban region.
Last week a national assembly candidate was shot dead in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, and another political leader was shot dead on the same day in his party’s election office in Balochistan. The day before a bomb attack following an election rally killed four people in Balochistan. Islamic State claimed responsibility.
The Election Commission has asked the chief secretary and inspector general of Balochistan for immediate reports and instructed them to take action against those behind the events,” an Election Commission spokesperson said in a statement.
The caretaker provincial information minister, Jan Achakzai, told that “terrorists wanted to disturb election activities” in Balochistan, but the government will ensure law and order on polling day.
Tight security is deployed after Bomb Blast outside Pakistan Election Candidate Office
Over 5,00,000 security officers have been deployed for the elections to be held on Thursday, as officials distributed ballot papers to more than 90,000 polling stations.
The election has been marred by several controversies, with accusations of pre-poll rigging after a crackdown on the party of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who won the 2018 poll but was later ousted from power by a vote of no-confidence.
Security is a major concern with two candidates shot dead and numerous others targeted in attacks across the country in the lead-up to Thursday’s vote.
Campaigning officially concluded on Tuesday night, and voting is scheduled to begin at 8:00 am local time on Thursday, closing at 5:00 pm.
In a country with a population of 24 crore, nearly 12.8 crore are eligible to vote. A total of almost 18,000 candidates are competing for seats in the national and provincial assemblies, including 266 directly contested seats in the national assembly, with an additional 70 reserved for women and minorities. There are also 749 positions in the regional parliaments.
Ten people were killed while twelve other were wounded in a bomb blast outside the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) office in Balochistan’s Qila Saifullah, police confirmed on Wednesday.
More to Follow…#DialoguePakistan #injured #Blast #QilaSaifullah #Police #Balochistan #JUIF… pic.twitter.com/qhHemymkTC
— Dialogue Pakistan (@DialoguePak) February 7, 2024
Election Commission of Pakistan spokesperson Nighat Siddique said that polling will take place in the Balochistan constituencies where the two deadly blasts have taken place today.
“Elections will take place in these constituencies tomorrow,” she said.
Interior Ministry’s take on Bomb Blast outside Pakistan Election Candidate Office
Pakistan’s caretaker Interior Minister Gohar Ejaz has condemned the blasts in Balochistan, saying all measures will be taken to establish law and order for tomorrow’s elections.
“Miscreants want to spread chaos and prevent people from exercising their right to vote. We will not allow the evil intentions of the enemy to succeed at any cost. The terrorists’ attack on innocent citizens is a very cowardly act,” Ejaz said in a post on X.