Gunmen strike election hopefuls, one dead

By Staff Reporter

ISLAMABAD: A candidate running for the upcoming general elections in Pakistan was killed and another was injured in separate attacks on Wednesday, raising fears of violence and instability ahead of the next months polls.

Political parties and security analysts have voiced fears about the deteriorating security situation in the country as it gears up for polls on February 8. Pakistan has suffered pre-election violence in the past, which includes targeted attacks and suicide blasts, before national polls in 2008 and 2013.

Kaleemullah Khan, an independent candidate for the provincial assembly from North Waziristan, was gunned down along with two of his bodyguards when his convoy was ambushed by unidentified gunmen in the Tappi area, police said.

Rohan Zeb, the district police officer, said Khan was returning home from a campaign rally in Miranshah, the main town of the restive tribal district, when the attack took place.

No group has claimed responsibility for the killing, which is the latest in a series of attacks targeting electoral candidates and workers in the region.

In a separate incident, Aslam Buledi, a former senator and leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party, was wounded in a shooting in Turbat, a city in the southwestern province of Balochistan.

Zia Mandokhail, the superintendent of police, said Buledi was walking in a park when unknown assailants opened fire and fled. Buledi suffered bullet injuries on his shoulder and foot and was taken to a nearby hospital.

Buledi is contesting for the National Assembly seat of NA-258 in the province, where separatist militants and other armed groups have been active for years.

Political parties and candidates have kicked off their election campaigns amid mounting security concerns. The elections have already been marred by allegations of pre-poll rigging, media censorship, and military interference, as well as a surge in militant violence that has claimed dozens of lives.

Last week, Mohsin Dawar, a former member of parliament and a prominent Pashtun rights activist, survived an attack on his convoy in North Waziristan. The same day, Qari Khairullah, a leader of the religious party Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), escaped a roadside bomb in Bajaur, another tribal district in the northwest.

Some political parties and lawmakers have called for postponing the elections in view of the security situation, but the caretaker government has rejected the idea and said it was committed to holding the polls on time.