ISLAMABAD: The United States (US) condemned an attack in Pakistan’s southwest that targeted a rally by former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) opposition party, the State Department said on Wednesday. 

The bomb attack killed 10 people and injured multiple others in Sibi city of Pakistan’s Balochistan province as supporters of Khan’s PTI party rallied through a busy road in the city, officials said. 

The attack was one of several such incidents in recent weeks, with electioneering going on in full swing in the South Asian country that heads to national polls on February 8. 

In a press briefing in Washington, Matthew Miller, a spokesperson for the US State Department, extended his deepest sympathies to those affected by the attack on the PTI rally. 

“This attack is one of many we have seen in the last month against multiple parties across Pakistan. The election commission [of Pakistan] itself has come under attack in several places,” he said. 

“We strongly condemn any violence which undermines the electoral process.” 

The State Department spokesperson said the US believed in the resilience of the Pakistani people and supported Islamabad’s efforts to root out militancy. 

“The Pakistani people have the right to choose their leader without fear or – of reprisal or violence, and we remain committed to working with Pakistan to address the shared threat posed by terrorist groups throughout the region,” he said. 

“And we support the Pakistani Government’s efforts to combat terrorism.” 

Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant violence, particularly in its western provinces of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in the weeks leading to national polls. 

On Wednesday, unidentified gunmen shot dead two persons, including an election candidate, in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and southwestern Balochistan provinces, police confirmed, in an alarming sign of violence gripping the country days before national polls. 

Two people were injured on Sunday evening in Mastung district in a grenade attack that targeted the National Party’s election office while another grenade and gun attack at the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) office in Turbat last week killed one police officer.