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[ice_man]

Six killed in blast during PPP rally

LOWER DIR: A roadside blast during a Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) election rally killed six, at Baba Gaam ground in Lower Dir, Express News reported on Tuesday.

The blast took place as the brother of a provincial assembly candidate for the PPP went door to door to canvass for votes in Dir, police said.

“It was a remote-controlled bomb, it went off when the brother of a provincial assembly candidate Zamin Khan was campaigning,” police officer Mehtab Khan told AFP.

Several injured people were shifted to a nearby hospital.

Khan is one of the strong candidates contesting for PK-96 together with the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) MPA Sayed Gul, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl’s (JUI-F’s) Muhammad Shakir Ullah Khan and the Awami National Party’s ( ANP) Naeem Jan.

Earlier during the day,a blast during an election campaign of the JUI-F killed at least eleven people, while 35 others were injured in Hangu.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Tuesday’s attacks.

These attacks raise to 107 the number of people killed in attacks on politicians and political parties since April 11, according to an AFP tally.

Meanwhile, elections have been postponed in three constituencies where candidates have been killed. Those constituencies are in the southwestern province of Baluchistan, in Pakistan’s biggest city of Karachi and in southern Hyderabad.

Background

The PPP, Awami national Party (ANP) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) have been under attack by the Taliban ahead of the general elections on May 11.

The PPP has witnessed a fair share of these attacks.

A day earlier, there was an attack on the election office of the PPP candidate in the area of Shabqadar which injured one person and damaged property.

The residence of the PPP candidate Zulfiqar Afghani was targeted by a bomb blast on the roof of the house on April 15.

On April 27, three people lost their lives and over 20 others were wounded when a powerful bomb planted on a motorcycle exploded near PPP’s corner meeting in Lyari’s Old Kumhar Wara.

TTP has claimed responsibility for all the attacks since April 23.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) believes this is part of a bigger game plan. “Politico-religious parties and right-wing political groups are conniving with the establishment to damage and weaken left-wing parties,” PPP Senator Raza Rabbani told The Express Tribune in an exclusive interview.

Taliban militants have stepped up attacks on politicians in an attempt to sabotage the first democratic transition of power in the political history of Pakistan.

The leader of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) had earlier said that the group would continue to attack politicians from the ANP, MQM and PPP.
Six killed in blast during PPP rally – The Express Tribune

11 dead in blast at JUI-F election rally

HANGU: A blast during an election campaign of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) killed at least eleven people, while 35 others were injured in the area of Doaba Bazar in Hangu, Express News reported on Tuesday.

The members of the political party, including former MPA Mufti Syed Janan running for the PK-43 constituency were meeting with shopkeepers in the bazaar to campaign for the upcoming polls. Janan escaped the attack without any serious injuries.

Janan told AFP by telephone that he had received injuries to his head and shoulder.

“I was on my election campaign and coming to my vehicle when the bomber blew himself up. I received some injuries but survived. Two of my guards were seriously wounded,” Janan said.

Authorities said it was a suicide attack but presented different accounts over whether the bomber had been on foot or riding a motorcycle.

“He blew himself up near the vehicle of (parliamentary candidate) Syed Janan. He was injured but he is safe,” Abdul Hameed Khan, a senior government official in Hangu said.

Security was tightened around the blast site, and a curfew was imposed in the area.

Rescue teams reached the blast site and the injured were shifted to a nearby hospital.

Tuesday’s bombing raises to 97 the number of people killed in attacks on politicians and political parties since April 11, according to an AFP tally.

Background

Attacks on the political party have increased with a deadly attack on another JUI-F rally earlier on Monday afternoon. The blast left 25 people dead and over 50 injured in the Sewak area of Kurram Agency.

The bomb was planted inside the building that was the venue for the rally of two national assembly candidates representing the JUI faction led by cleric Fazulur Rehman.

Another JUI-F candidate Haji Mohammad Hashim Shahwani escaped an assassination attempt, on April 26, when his convoy was attacked by a remote-controlled bomb in the Mach district of Kachi in Balochistan.

Earlier on Thursday, Maulana Fazlur Rehman appealed to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) not to carry out attacks on candidates from political parties including the Awami National Party (ANP), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).

Violence increased in the northwest as Pakistan prepares to hold a general election and provincial elections on May 11, which will mark the country’s first democratic transition of power.

Meanwhile elections have been postponed in three constituencies where candidates have been killed. Those constituencies are in the southwestern province of Baluchistan, in Pakistan’s biggest city of Karachi and in southern Hyderabad.

http://tribune.com.pk/story/545518/blast-at-jui-f-rally-in-hangu-leaves-several-injured/

 

[ice_man]

Kurram Agency carnage: 23 killed in bomb attack on JUI-F rally

PESHAWAR / ISLAMABAD / QUETTA / SHABQADAR / PARACHINAR:
At least 23 people were killed and 47 others injured in a blast targeting a Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) candidate in Kurram Agency. This was not just the first militant attack on an election rally during this campaign season, but also the first major attack on the JUI-F, a party that has thus far been spared the wrath of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

Political Agent Riaz Masood told The Express Tribune that the explosion occurred around 3:50pm when NA-38 candidate Munir Orakzai was addressing party activists inside a mosque-cum-seminary in the Sawak area of the agency. NA-37 candidate Maulana Ainud Din Shakir was also present during the occasion. Neither candidate was hurt in the attack.

The TTP claimed responsibility for the attack, but the group’s spokesman was quick to point out that the attack on Orakzai was not due to his affiliation with the JUI-F.

“We attacked him because of the crimes he committed against Islam and Mujahideen,” Ehsanullah Ehsan said in a statement.

“He (Orakzai) handed over dozens of Arab Mujahideen to America, who are now suffering in Guantanamo Bay. He worked with full zeal with the ANP, MQM and PPP for the last five years in shedding the blood of innocent tribesmen,” Ehsan said, adding that the Taliban would never forgive him.

He also said that Hafiz Dolat Khan, alias Hafiz Ahmed, has been appointed the TTP chief for Kurram Agency by the Taliban Shura, and added that the attack on Orakzai was his first ‘achievement’.

Despite the claim of responsibility, Orakzai claimed that he had no enmity with the TTP and insisted that they would never target him. “It cannot be the action of the Taliban,” he insisted, while addressing a press conference after the blast on Monday.

Condemning the blast, he said that no one could scare him and claimed that people were jealous of the fact that he would win from his constituency.

Political Agent Riaz Masood said a heavy contingent of Kurram levies rushed to the site of the blast and cordoned off the area. However, the nature of the blast could not be ascertained.

The Assistant Political Agent of the Central Kurram Muhammad Naeem said that while some eyewitnesses reported that it was a suicide blast, others said it was a remote-controlled explosion,

Dr Noor Ali at the Agency Headquarters Hospital (AHQ) in Parachinar said that three of the injured victims died during treatment, while seven are critically injured and have been referred to Peshawar.

Hospital sources later confirmed that at least 23 people were killed and over 45 were injured.

Meanwhile, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Governor Engineer Shaukatullah took serious notice of the blast.

“There is a need to ensure foolproof security arrangements both for the public and the election candidates on any such occasion,” the governor said.

Taking innocent lives, he said, is an act of incredible cruelty and those involved do not have any values, religious or otherwise, and deserve to be condemned by all.

Election unrest in Balochistan

Sporadic election related violence continued Balochistan as well. National Party (NP) president Dr Abdul Malik Baloch’s convoy was attacked with hand grenades in the Turbat area of Kech district on Monday, injuring his nephew Dr Yasin Baloch.

Turbat police official Riaz Ahmed told The Express Tribune that the incident occurred when Dr Abdul Malik and Yasin were returning from a procession.

Though both escaped unhurt, Dr Yasin was injured when his security guards fired at the assailants.

Meanwhile, four schools designated as polling stations were destroyed by rocket fire in Barkhan and Mastung districts on Monday.

In a separate incident, independent candidate Mir Iqbal Zehri escaped a hand grenade attack unhurt in the Sargaz area of Mastung Monday night.

PPP election office blown up in Charsadda

The election campaign office of Pakistan Peoples Party candidates from PK-22 and NA-8 was destroyed when a bomb planted by unidentified militants exploded in the Shabqadar tehsil of Charsadda district on Monday.

Asadullah, the candidate of PPP from PK-22 told The Express Tribune that they had arranged a gathering of party activists for a corner meeting in the office when the blast occurred.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 7th, 2013.

Kurram Agency carnage: 23 killed in bomb attack on JUI-F rally – The Express Tribune