PESHAWAR: Unidentified gunmen shot dead two persons, including an election candidate, in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and southwestern Balochistan provinces on Wednesday, police confirmed, in an alarming sign of violence gripping the country days before national polls.
Pakistan has seen a surge in attacks on political parties and their candidates, with polling booths set to open for voters nationwide on Feb. 8. The latest attacks come a day after an election rally led by former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party in Balochistan’s Sibi was targeted in a blast that killed four and injured five.
Rehan Zeb Khan, a PTI supporter who was contesting polls as an independent candidate from NA-8 constituency in the Bajaur tribal district bordering Afghanistan, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen, police officer Abdul Razzaq confirmed.
“Unidentified gunmen opened indiscriminate fire when Khan and his supporters were busy canvassing in the Siddiq Abad Phatak Bazaar area, leaving four persons wounded, including Khan, who later died of wounds in a hospital,” Razzaq told Arab News.
He said a police contingent arrived at the site shortly after to quell a protest that followed the incident.
PTI provincial spokesperson Ikram Katana condemned the incident in a statement.
“The fact that PTI candidates and its public gatherings have been targeted by terrorists is itself a big question mark on the credibility and transparency of elections,” Katana said.
Malik Farmanullah, a tribal leader in Bajaur, said the district had been experiencing lawlessness for months now. He said the situation was getting worse as Pakistan heads to the national polls.
“The entire Bajaur is in shock and mourns Khan’s killing,” Farmanullah told Arab News. “Authorities should check growing incidents of target killings here because Bajaur is also part of Pakistan,” he added.
In a separate incident in southwestern Pakistan’s Killa Abdullah district,, unidentified gunmen on a motorcycle sprayed bullets on supporters of the Awami National Party (ANP), police officer Abdul Raziq, stationed at the Chaman control room, confirmed.
The attack left ANP leader Zahoor Ahmad dead and another supporter wounded, he said.
Asghar Khan Achakzai, ANP’s provincial president, condemned the attack in a statement, saying that his party was facing hurdles in its electioneering.
“There is no level playing field for the ANP to carry out election campaigns,” Achakzai said. “The government should take measures to eliminate armed groups.”
In another incident from southwestern Pakistan, unidentified men attacked the election office of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in Quetta’s Sariab Road with a grenade, injuring five persons.
Kechi Baig Police Station’s station house officer (SHO), Sabir Tareen, confirmed that the PPP’s candidate for PB-45 Hajji Ali Madad Jattak was present inside the party’s office when the attack took place.
He said all five injured had been shifted to the Civil Hospital Quetta.
Responding to the developments, Pakistan’s election regulator announced in a statement it has summoned a meeting on Thursday to discuss the deteriorating security situation in KP and Balochistan ahead of elections.
Pakistan’s interior minister, interior secretary, chief secretaries, police and intelligence chiefs from both provinces would participate in the meeting, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) said.
As pre-election violence gains hold of Pakistan’s western regions bordering Afghanistan, political parties and security analysts have voiced fears about the deteriorating security situation in the country.
Pakistan has suffered pre-election violence in the past, which includes targeted attacks and suicide blasts, before national polls in 2008 and 2013.
