By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The interim interior minister, Gohar Ejaz, said on Thursday that the general elections scheduled for Feb. 8 would take place “no matter what happens,” amid a wave of attacks on political candidates and rallies in the restive provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
“Elections are on Feb. 8,” Ejaz told reporters after attending a high-level meeting with the Election Commission of Pakistan, the country’s electoral authority, and security and intelligence officials in Islamabad. “No one should have any doubt regarding the elections.”
The minister said the election commission and the caretaker government, which took over in August after the parliament completed its five-year term, would ensure that the elections were held on time and in a free and fair manner.
The security situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, two provinces that border Afghanistan and have long been plagued by militancy and separatism, has deteriorated in recent weeks, raising concerns about the conduct of the elections.
On Thursday, at least one person was killed and six others, including a police officer, were wounded in a series of blasts and grenade attacks in different parts of Balochistan, the police said.
In Quetta, the provincial capital, a man died when a bomb exploded on a road that is part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a multibillion-dollar infrastructure project that has been opposed by some militant groups. The police said the bomb was planted on a footpath and damaged an electricity pole.
“There was no election program within the vicinity of the blast,” Tariq Jawad, a senior police official, said, adding that security forces were on high alert for election gatherings and that an investigation was underway to identify the victim.
In another incident in Quetta, a police officer was injured when unidentified assailants threw a hand grenade at a police station, Jawad said. The officer was taken to a hospital and was out of danger.
Similar attacks also took place in Jaffarabad and Turbat districts, where three civilians and one shopkeeper were wounded, respectively, the police said. No group claimed responsibility for the attacks.
On Wednesday, a candidate from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. On Tuesday, four people were killed and six others injured in a bomb blast at a rally of the same party in Balochistan.
The election commission said it had taken notice of the violence and sought detailed reports from the Balochistan police chief and the chief secretary, the top civilian official in the province, according to Radio Pakistan, the state-run broadcaster.
The military leadership also pledged to safeguard the upcoming parliamentary elections from violence and sabotage.
Copyright © 2021 Independent Pakistan | All rights reserved
