World | Pakistan
Bombing raises fears of more poll violence
A suicide bomber attacks a candidate's office ahead of the Pakistani elections, killing 37 people.
- By Aftab Kazmi, Bureau Chief
- Published: 18:57 February 16, 2008
- Angry supporters of All Parties Democratic Movement, a coalition of anti-Musharraf parties boycotting the vote, walk away after setting on fire a police vehicle during a clashes in Quetta, Pakistan on Saturday.
- Image Credit: AP
Islamabad: At least 37 people were killed in a suicide bomb attack on a candidate's office on the last day of campaigning in the Pakistan parliamentary elections.
Campaigning for the elections to a new parliament and provincial assemblies has been overshadowed by security fears, especially since Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in a gun and suicide bomb attack on December 27.
Opposition politicians have also complained of vote rigging. The elections will return democratic rule to the country after more than a decade of military rule. The poll could mean trouble for President Pervez Musharraf if voters elect a parliament hostile to him.
Saturday's bomb attack in the town of Parachinar, in the Kurram region on the Afghan border, occurred as supporters of a candidate backed by Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party were going to his office after a rally, witnesses said.
Interior Ministry spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema said the car bomb killed 37 people and injured more than 90.
Candidates and leaders of political parties wrapped up their campaign with rallies in their last push to woo voters ahead of the mandatory midnight close of canvasing a day before the parliamentary election.
Despite worries of suicide attacks, most streets, were packed with candidates' supporters disrupting traffic in several cities.
The Election Commission of Pakistan says it has distributed ballot papers and necessary equipment to all polling stations.
Meanwhile, Nawaz Sharif, former prime minister and chief of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), and Asif Ali Zardari, co-chairman of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), met yesterday for a second time last week in Lahore. The two parties agreed to launch a joint movement if the election was rigged.
During the hour-long meeting they discussed tomorrow's polls and the security situation. There are 7,335 candidates for 272 general seats of national assembly and 577 seats in four provincial assemblies, according to the election commission. More than 64,000 polling stations have been set up for voting by over 80 million registered voters.
With additional inputs from Shahid Hussain, Correspondent
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