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One person was killed in a roadside blast in Quetta on Thursday, police said.
The incident came hours before the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) was scheduled to hold a high-level meeting to discuss the deteriorating law and order situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan in the lead-up to the Feb 8 elections.
SSP Operations Tariq Jawad told Dawn.com that around eight to 10 kilogrammes of explosives were used in the blast. He said that further investigations were under way to ascertain the identity of the deceased.
He said that initial investigation showed that the deceased was a pedestrian passing by when the blast occurred.
“There was no election programme within the vicinity of the blast,” SSP Tariq said. “Security is high alert for election gatherings,” he said.
A day earlier, a leader of a political party was killed and eight other people, including political workers and two security officials, were injured in separate attacks at election offices and residences of the political party candidates in Balochistan.
Officials said that a local Awami National Party (ANP) leader, identified as Zahoor Ahmed, was killed when armed assailants opened fire at the election office of party candidate Engineer Zamrak Khan Piralizai in the Mazaiadha area of Chaman, a district bordering Afghanistan.
They said the incident happened after a dispute between two groups on the issue of hoisting party flags escalated. Ahmed received multiple bullets and died on the spot, while another party worker, Moin, was injured in the firing, a senior Levies official said.
In another incident, unknown people attacked the residence of a former provincial minister and PPP candidate for provincial assembly from Kech district, Zahoor Ahmed Buledi, with a hand grenade in his native town of Buleda.
“Two grenades lobbed at the residence of Buledi exploded in the courtyard of the house,” the police said, adding that no casualty was reported in the attack.
The banned group Baloch Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the attack. In a statement, Buledi condemned the attack and said that he and his family would not be afraid of such attacks.
Separately, five PPP workers were injured when unknown motorcyclists hurled a grenade at the election office of Mir Ali Madad Jattak, a former president of PPP’s Balochistan chapter, who is contesting on a provincial assembly seat, at Ghahi Chowk area of Sariab.
Jattak, who was present in the election office, remained unhurt. The injured party workers were identified as Ghulam Ullah, Nasarullah, Muhammad Javed, Abdul Latif and Obaidullah.
In another incident, a Levies official was critically injured in Khuzdar when unidentified individuals attacked the Levies patrolling vehicle with hand grenades in the Khatan area of Khuzdar late evening.
Another explosion took place in front of the residence of PPP’s provincial assembly candidate Shakeel Durrani in Khuzdar. However, no casualty was reported in the incident.
A police constable was injured in a grenade attack on a police picket in the Josak area of Turbat town late in the evening.
In Sibi, a man lobbed a grenade at a police checkpoint, slightly damaging the post. However, no one was hurt in the attack.
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