SUICIDE BOMBER KILLS 85IN
ATTACK ON PAKISTANI ELECTION RALLY
, Pakistan (Reuters)
- A suicide bomber killed 85 people at an election rally in southwestern
Pakistan in the second election-related attack on Friday, officials said, amid
growing tensions over ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s return ahead of the
July 25 vote.The bombing was the most deadly attack in Pakistan in over a year
and is the third incident of election-related violence this week.It came as
Pakistan’s caretaker government launched a crackdown on political gatherings
with Sharif, who was ousted by the Supreme Court last year and convicted in
absentia of corruption a week ago, arriving in the country to rally his party ahead
of the general elections.
Baluchistan caretaker
Health Minister Faiz Kakar told Reuters that the death toll in the attack had
risen to 85 people, with over 150 wounded.Senior police official Qaim Lashari
had earlier said that more than 1000 people were in attendance at the rally in
the town of Mastung in the violence-plagued province of Baluchistan.Islamist
militants linked to the Taliban, al Qaeda and Islamic State have been operating
in the province, which borders Iran as well as Afghanistan. It also has an
indigenous ethnic Baluch insurgency fighting the central government.Islamic
State claimed responsibility for the attack, the group’s AMAQ news agency said.
The group provided no further detail or evidence for its claim.
Prof. John Kurakar
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