Deadly Twin Bombings Rock Pakistan A Day Before Elections

QUETTA: Two deadly detonations in Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan have claimed the lives of at least 22 people with many sustaining injuries.

The deadly twin blasts on Wednesday comes just a day before elections in crisis-hit Pakistan.

The election offices of political parties were deliberately targeted in the attacks in the disputed region.

As per reports, the first attack, which claimed at least 12 lives, occurred at the office of independent election candidate Asfandyar Khan Kakar in Pishin district near the border with Afghanistan.

The contested province's information minister has said that the second explosion in Qilla Saifullah detonated near an office of Jamiat Ulema Islam (JUI), a religious party that has previously been at the receiving end of targeted attacks.

Jumma Dad Khan, the deputy commissioner of Pishin district, said that the blast caused injuries to many people with some being in critical condition.

Balochistan’s caretaker information minister, Jan Achakzai, told the media that at least 10 people were killed in the attack in Qila Saifullah.

The minister revealed that an improvised explosive device (IED) attached to a motorcycle caused the blast in Pishin.

No group has claimed responsibility for this attack till now. As Pakistan is gearing up to go to the polls on Thursday, the debt-ridden country has witnessed a significant surge in attacks in the recent months.

The bombings have raised serious concerns regarding the security situation during the vote. The authorities have assured that security will be beefed up at polling booths.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of police personnel and paramilitary forces have already been deployed across Pakistan in an attempt to prevent attacks after the recent increase in violence. Balochistan has had to bear much of the brunt.

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