Pakistan is currently seeing 2 sides of the election coin- one is a series of bomb blasts and the other is the politicians wooing the voters.
ONE SIDE
A suicide bomber targeting a political rally in southwest Pakistan Friday killed 128 people, an official said, the deadliest in a string of attacks on campaign events that have raised security fears ahead of nationwide polls.
The blast – which was claimed by the Daesh extremist group – ripped through the crowd in the town of Mastung near the Balochistan provincial capital Quetta, and was the deadliest in Pakistan in more than a year.
It came hours after another bomb killed at least four people at a campaign rally in Bannu in the country’s northwest. A third bomb killed 22 people at another rally in Peshawar on Tuesday.
The attacks underscored the fragility of Pakistan’s dramatic gains in security after years of steady improvement and widespread optimism that things had turned a corner.
“The death toll has risen to 85,” Balochistan health minister Faiz Kakar earlier told the media, adding that were more than 100 wounded.
According to senior provincial official Saeed Jamali, the bomber detonated in the middle of a compound where a political meeting was taking place. Another senior official, Qaim Lashari, also confirmed it was a suicide blast.
Emergency workers shuttled victims to nearby vehicles from the bombed-out compound as bystanders sobbed in the darkness due to the lack of electricity in the impoverished area.
Victims in blood-smeared clothes were taken to hospitals in Mastung and nearby Quetta, where they were greeted by tense crowds of mourners, an AFP reporter said. The deceased could be seen covered in shrouds.
The explosion killed Siraj Raisani, who was running for a provincial seat with the newly formed Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), provincial home minister Agha Umar Bungalzai told the media.
“Mir Siraj Raisani succumbed to wounds while he was being shifted to Quetta,” he added. Raisani was the younger brother of former provincial chief minister Mir Aslam Raisani.
The attack came hours after four people were killed and 39 injured when a bomb hidden inside a motorcycle detonated near a Pakistani politician’s convoy in Bannu on Friday, near the border with Afghanistan.
The politician – Akram Khan Durrani, a candidate of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) party – survived, police said. No group has yet claimed responsibility for that attack.
On Tuesday, a bomb claimed by the Pakistani Taliban targeted a rally by the Awami National Party (ANP) in the city of Peshawar.
Local ANP leader Haroon Bilour was among the 22 killed. Thousands flocked to his funeral the next day.
READ ALSO: 70 dead, 120 injured in Bomb explosion amid Balochistan Awami Party’s election rally
THE OTHER SIDE
For Awami Muslim League chairman Sheikh Rasheed, the election is not just a time to go on a campaign asking for votes, it’s also the time to meet members of his constituency, and, if time permits, bake rotis with them.
The National Assembly veteran from Rawalpindi has been meeting with constituents and taking pictures with laymen on the street to raise support for the upcoming Pakistan elections, which take place in less than two weeks.
A few days ago, the politician, who is a lawyer by education, was seen touring for his campaign on a motorcycle, drumming up support.
The new video on his Twitter account shows him making traditional rotis in a tandoor, to the applause of this supporters.
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People can be heard clapping for the politician, rejoicing in his skills in making the delicious bread.
“I like to be around people, being with them, doing what they do,” he said.
This comes as Pakistani citizens will be heading to the ballot boxes on July 25, casting their votes for either Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed, backed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf; or Pakistan Muslim League N candidates, Danyal Chaudhry and Hanif Abassi.
The two National Assembly seats up for grabs are for the Rawalpindi NA-60 and NA-62 constituencies.
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