Islamic State claims responsibility for multiple blasts in Pakistan on election eve
Pakistan blasts
Terror outfit Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the twin blasts that shook Pakistan on Wednesday (February 7) just a day before the South Asian country is to hold national elections.
The group took to Telegram to claim that IS fighters detonated the explosives"in the middle of an election gathering...in the Killa Saifullah area in Balochistan" province, not long before claiming authority for a similar attack in the Pishin district of the province.
The fact that a million security officers were deployed across the nation did not stop perpetrators from carrying out the blasts.
"The aim of today's blasts was to sabotage the election," said Jan Achakzai, caretaker information minister for Balochistan province, where the blasts happened.
"Despite today's blasts, the election will take place tomorrow. People of Balochistan will come out tomorrow without any fear."
The first blast involved an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) that killed 16 people in the Pishin district of Balochistan. Those killed were standing outside the office of an independent candidate. The location is 50 kilometres from Quetta, the largest city in Balochistan province.
The second blast took place in the city of Killa Saifullah which is about 120 kilometres east. This blast killed 12 people near the office of a candidate from the Islamist Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-F (JUI-F) party.
AFP reported that the candidate's office is located in the main bazaar of the city.
A total of 34 people were injured in both attacks, according to Achakzai.
This is not the first attack against the (JUI-F) party. Last year in July, a suicide bomber attack at the party's rallyclaimed 44 lives. The rally was held in northwestern Pakistan.
Gravitas | Pakistan: 1 dead and 3 injured in Karachi explosion
The third blast was reported from Karachi. As per reports in Pakistani media, one person was killed and a child sustained minor injuries in the blast. The blast took place in the Gulshan-e-Iqbal area.
Campaigning for the Pakistan polls officially ended on Tuesday night. The voting is slated to begin at 8 am on Thursday (0300 GMT). It will conclude at 5 pm. Out of the total population of 240 million, the number of eligible voters is 128 million.
(With inputs from agencies)