Deadly Bombings Target Campaign Offices On Eve Of Pakistan Elections

Security officials examine the scene of a bomb blast in Pakistan's Balochistan Province on February 7. Two bomb blasts killed more than 20 people and are raising concerns over security in the nuclear-armed South Asian country as it prepares for a general election.

Workers and volunteers transport a victim of the bombing to a hospital in Quetta.

Pakistanis go to the polls on February 8 amid rising militant attacks and the jailing of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, the winner of the last national election, who has been dominating the headlines.

A bomb blast victim is helped to the hospital.

The first attack happened in Pishin, a district in Balochistan Province near the Afghan border, local security official Naseebullah Kakar told RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal.

Paramedics place an injured man on a stretcher.

The attack, which killed at least 12 people, took place at the office of an independent candidate and former provincial minister, Asfandyar Khan Kakar, officials said, adding that he was not injured in the blast.

Onlookers watch as victims continue to arrive at the hospital in Quetta.

The second blast occurred in Qilla Saifullah, near an office of Maulana Abdul Wasi, a candidate of Jamiat Ulema Islam (JUI), a religious party that has previously been the target of militant attacks, Yasir Baz, the head of the local administration, told the media.

At least 10 people were killed in that attack, officials said. Militant attacks have been increasing over the past several months ahead of the elections. 

People gather around the bodies of victims waiting to be identified at the hospital in Quetta.


 

A man weeps after identifying the body of a relative.

No group has claimed responsibility for either blast so far.