MONITORING (SW) – Two bombs in Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan have killed at least 22 people with 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 attack, which killed 12 people, took place at the office of independent election candidate Asfandyar Khan Kakar in Pishin district near the border with Afghanistan, police sources told Al Jazeera.
Caretaker information minister for Balochistan province Jan Achakzai and Quetta police both put the death toll from that blast at a dozen, with 25 more wounded.
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, according to the province’s information minister.
Jumma Dad Khan, the deputy commissioner of Pishin district, said the blast there injured many people. Some are in serious condition, the medical superintendent at Khanozai Hospital told Al Jazeera.
At least 10 people were killed in the attack in Qila Saifullah, Balochistan’s caretaker information minister, Jan Achakzai, told ARY News.
“At least 10 people were killed and 12 others injured,” he told AFP.
The blast in Pishin was the result of an improvised explosive device attached to a motorcycle, he added.
No group has yet claimed responsibility as attacks have risen in recent months as Pakistan prepares to go to the polls on Thursday.
The bombings have raised worries over security during the vote, and authorities said they will boost security at polling booths.
Tens of thousands of police and paramilitary forces have already been deployed across Pakistan in a bid to avert attacks after the recent surge in violence. Balochistan has been particularly blighted.
Last week, at least 15 people were killed when the BLA targeted military and security installations in the city of Mach, 65km (40 miles) south of Balochistan’s capital, Quetta, according to Al Jazeera.
