MONITORING (SW) – Two bombs in Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan have killed at least 28 people, officials said, with dozens more injured.
The twin blasts on Wednesday came a day before elections. The attacks targeted the election offices of political parties in the restive region.
The first blast, which killed 16 people, took place at the office of independent election candidate Asfandyar Khan Kakar in Pishin district near the border with Afghanistan, said Jan Achakzai, Balochistan’s caretaker information minister. More than 20 people were reported wounded.
The blast was the result of an improvised explosive device attached to a motorcycle, he said.
The second explosion in Qilla Saifullah detonated near an office of Jamiat Ulema Islam (JUI), a religious party that has previously been the target of attacks. At least 12 people were killed in that attack and several others were injured, Achakzai said.
The ISIL group claimed responsibility for the blasts late on Wednesday, Al Jazeera reported.
ISIL fighters “blew up a motorbike” rigged with explosives “at an election gathering” in the Pishin district, the group said in a statement posted on the Telegram messaging app. They also claimed responsibility for the Qilla Saifullah blast.
In the immediate aftermath of the dual attacks, Pakistan’s foreign office said in a statement that its western border crossings with Iran and Afghanistan would close until Friday to ensure security during the election.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the bomb attacks, his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.
