World News

Pakistan Election: Day before election, Balochistan bombings kill two

According to police, two bomb blasts in Pakistan's Balochistan region on the eve of general elections have resulted in the death of at least 20 individuals.

Twelve individuals were murdered in the first explosion that occurred in front of the campaign headquarters of an independent candidate in the Pishin district.

Another detonation resulted in the death of eight individuals in Qillah Saif Ullah district, located around 150km (93 miles) distant. Several individuals sustained injuries in the two explosions.

The election has been tarnished by instances of violence and allegations of electoral manipulation.

The assault in Pishin remains unclaimed by any organisation. Further information on the second explosion is still being revealed.

Photographs shared on social media depict vehicles and motorcycles disintegrated due to the magnitude of the detonation in Pishin. The incident occurred outside the election headquarters of a local independent candidate, where authorities informed the BBC that he was seeing his polling agent at that moment.

Violence has occurred in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the last week or two, leading to next Thursday's election.

Authorities are now investigating the origin of the explosion, while the wounded individuals have been promptly taken to local medical facilities.

The Balochistan administration confirmed that the poll would follow the original schedule.

"We guarantee that terrorists will not be able to undermine or sabotage this vital democratic process," said Jan Achakzai, the province communications minister, on X, previously known as twitter.