A bomb blast victim (2L) is helped to walk into a hospital in Quetta on February 7, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
Quetta, Pakistan: At least 22 people were killed Wednesday in two separate bomb blasts outside the offices of election candidates in southwestern Pakistan, on the eve of a national vote marred by violence and allegations of poll-rigging.
More than half a million security officers were deploying ahead of Thursday's election, with authorities distributing ballot papers to more than 90,000 polling stations.
There have been multiple security incidents in the run-in to the vote, with at least two candidates shot dead and dozens more targeted in attacks across the country.
On Wednesday, a first improvised explosive device (IED) blast killed 12 people near the office of an independent candidate in Pishin district, around 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the city of Quetta and 100 kilometres from the Afghan border.
Caretaker information minister for Balochistan province Jan Achakzai and Quetta police said 25 people were also wounded.
A second IED detonated near the election office of a candidate for the Islamist Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-F (JUI-F) party in the city of Killa Saifullah -- about 120 kilometres (75 miles) east -- according to Achakzai.
"At least 10 people were killed and 12 others injured," he told AFP.
"The incident took place in the main bazaar of the city area, where the election office of the JUI-F was targeted," a senior police official told AFP.
