Security beefed up in Balochistan as another ANP leader is attacked

ISLAMABAD: Awami National Party (ANP) leader and former senator Daud Khan Achakzai was injured on Monday when unknown armed men broke into his election office in the southwestern city of Chaman and opened fire.
ANP spokesperson Dr. Waseem Baig confirmed to Arab News that the ANP leader sustained bullet injuries but is out of danger.
Achakzai was taken to Quetta’s Civil Hospital where he was treated for his injuries.
The incident is fourth in a series of recent attacks targeting political candidates and the second such attack on an ANP leader after ANP candidate Haroon Bilour was killed in a bomb blast during the election campaign in Peshawar on July 10.
The attack on Achakzai comes a day after caretaker Prime Minister Nasir-ul Mulk presided over a high-level meeting at the Governor House in Quetta to review the law and order situation in the province.
The prime minister strongly condemned the recent terrorist incidents on political candidates in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, advising that precautions should be taken and public awareness campaigns should be launched immediately to inform the public of the situation.
Mulk also urged that security is beefed up in the province and political candidates are taken into confidence regarding the measures taken.
On Saturday, the National Counter Terrorism Authority Chief Dr. Suleman Ahmad issued a security warning to the Election Commission of Pakistan stating that almost all leaders belonging to all major political parties faced the threat of terrorist attacks.
The briefing took place days after a senior official named six politicians under threat, including Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan, ANP leaders Asfandyar Wali Khan and Ameer Haider Hoti, Qaumi Watan Party head Aftab Sherpao and banned outfit Jamaatud Dawa (Jud) chief Hafiz Saeed’s son Talha Saeed. The senior leadership of the Pakistan People’s Party and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz are also under threat.
Meanwhile, the toll in the second deadliest terror attack in the country’s history, targeting an election campaign event in Mastung, rose to a staggering 149 dead and 189 injured.
Daesh and a faction of the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan both claimed responsibility for the attack.