ISLAMABAD/PESHAWAR: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is scheduled to have an important meeting today, with discussions centered on the deteriorating peace and order situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan, as Pakistan approaches the general elections.
In addition to terror occurrences, attacks on political rallies, offices, and candidates have increased throughout the past several weeks, especially in the two unrest-plagued provinces. Following the demise of Rehan Zeb Khan, an independent candidate running for the Bajaur, NA-8 National Assembly seat, the ECP instructed the inspector general of police and province chief secretary to provide a thorough report on the event, according to an official.
Unknown armed attackers opened fire on Zeb, a PTI youth activist, on Wednesday in his hometown of Bajaur, killing him. According to an official, “the minister and secretary of interior, chief secretaries, inspectors general of KP and Balochistan, and officials from intelligence agencies will attend the scheduled meeting in Islamabad on Thursday at 3pm.”
Read More: PTI candidate Rehan Zeb Khan from Bajaur reportedly shot dead
The ECP has requested immediate reports from the chief secretary and IG Balochistan in response to reports from the media and monitoring teams regarding the shooting incident that resulted in one person being killed on a political party convoy in the Qila Abdullah district of Balochistan and the grenade attack that occurred outside the home of a candidate for the PB-25 constituency in Kech district. It ordered that individuals responsible for the incident face swift consequences.
Concurrently, the ECP also observed the explosion at a political party’s Quetta election headquarters and requested a prompt report from the Inspector General of Police and the Chief Secretary of Balochistan. It also instructed that the election laws be applied to the offenders.
Meanwhile, the United States condemned the incident that reportedly left at least four people dead and numerous others injured, only one day after a horrific blast tore through Sibi, Balochistan. “Undermines the electoral process” is how the US State Department’s Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs put the attack.
Read More: ECP imposes fine for code of conduct violations, Here’s all details
The State Department claimed that “10 people” were killed in the explosion, despite reports of four deaths. This information was posted on X, the defunct Twitter platform.
The US vehemently denounces the assault on the PTI party event in Sibi that claimed ten lives and jeopardized the integrity of the voting process. The people of Pakistan are free to select their leader without worrying for the stability and prosperity of their nation. The post said, “Our deepest sympathies to those affected.”
The attacks on the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) election office in Quetta, Khuzdar, and the homes of candidates in Turbat have been sharply denounced by PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari. “I have just been informed of a third grenade attack on the resident of Agha Shakeel Durrani, Pakistan Peoples Party’s PB-19 candidate and former district Mayor Khuzdar, Balochistan,” the young politician posted on X on Wednesday. I sincerely pray that nobody gets hurt.
He went on to say that there were two separate grenade assaults in Balochistan that targeted PPP candidates Zahoor Buledi, a former minister, and Haji Ali Madad Jattak. “I vehemently denounce this act of terrorism. We shall bury the politics of violence, hatred, and division in the polls on February 8th, insha’Allah. We represent the martyrs’ party. He declared that cowardly terrorists could not and would not scare the PPP.
