QUETTA: A bomb exploded at an election office of an independent candidate in southwest Pakistan on Wednesday, the day before parliamentary elections are to be held, killing at least 18 people and wounding more than two dozen others, officials said.
The first attack happened in Pashin, a district in Balochistan province, said Jan Achakzai, the spokesperson for the provincial government. He said the wounded are being transported to a nearby hospital, and police said some of them were listed in critical condition.
A second explosion at another political party's office kills 12 more in Pakistan, bringing the death toll to at least 26.
"The incident [second blast] took place close to the election office of the local JUI-F candidate" in Killa Saifullah, said Jan Achakzai, provincial information minister of Balochistan.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks.
The bombing came despite the deployment of tens of thousands of police and paramilitary forces across Pakistan to ensure peace following a recent surge in militant attacks in the country, especially in Baluchistan.
The gas-rich Balochistan province at the border of Afghanistan and Iran has been the scene of a low-level insurgency for more than two decades.
Pakistani Taliban and other militant groups also have a strong presence in the province.
500,000 securitymen deployed
More than half a million security officers began deploying on Wednesday, with authorities distributing ballot papers to more than 90,000 polling stations.
There have also been multiple security incidents in the run-in to Thursday’s vote, with at least two candidates shot dead and dozens more targeted in attacks across the country.
Campaigning officially ended on Tuesday night and voting is due to begin at 8am local time (0300 GMT) Thursday, closing at 5pm.
In Lahore, a stream of returning officers accompanied by police were seen collecting neon-green sacks of voting materials from a central distribution centre to take to their polling stations.
“The security set up is a lot better because the ECP (Election Commission of Pakistan) has installed its app and taken other measures,” said Mohammad Baqir, referring to electronic scrutiny of those collecting voting materials.
“The work is going smoothly.”
The figures are staggering in a country of 240 million people — the world’s fifth most populous — with around 128 million eligible to vote.
Nearly 18,000 candidates are standing for seats in the national and four provincial assemblies, with 266 seats directly contested in the former — an additional 70 reserved for women and minorities — and 749 places in the regional parliaments.
“We must ensure security measures at every level,” Sindh provincial police chief Rafat Mukhtar told a news briefing Wednesday in the port city of Karachi.
