Pre-poll violence in Pakistan claims more lives

KABUL’s southwestern Balochistan province on Thursday, killing two people and wounding three others, a media report said.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidate Mohammad Akbar Askani was the target of the attack in Turbat area, but he escaped unhurt.

Dawn.Com quoted police as saying the assailant managed to escape after the attack that came as a wheel-jam strike was observed against the elections in Baloch-dominated areas of Kalat, Mastung, Khuzdar, Turbat and Noshki.

In the northwest, a bomb exploded in front of the residence of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) leader house in the Bannu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Geo News reported JUI-F leader Shaukat-ur-Rehman and his family were not harmed by the blast that unhinged the main gate of his residence and damaged a vehicle parked in the porch.

Elsewhere in the country, 23 people, including two women and six children, were injured when an improvised explosive device tore through a densely-populated area in the port city of Karachi.

In the build-up to the May 11 parliamentary elections, more than 110 people lost their lives and 723 people were injured in 77 election-related attacks across the country during the month of April.

According to a report compiled by the Pakistan Institute of Peace Studies (PIPS, 81 people were killed and 348 injured in 56 militant attacks targeting candidates, political parties and election-related activities. Another 29 people were killed and 375 injured in incidents of political violence by party workers.

PAN Monitor/mud

Visits: 1