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Eight killed, 49 injured in Pakistan election meeting bomb attack

Eight killed, 49 injured in Pakistan election meeting bomb attack

At least eight people have been killed and 49 others injured after a bomb exploded at an election campaign rally in Pakistan, Press TV reports.

The bomb attack took place on Tuesday night in Yakatoot district in the northwestern city of Peshawar.

According to the report, a senior leader of Awami National Party (ANP) identified as Ghulam Ahmed Bilour was among the injured.

Security forces cordoned off the area and transported the injured people to a local hospital.

Hours earlier, at least four Pakistanis were killed in a roadside bomb attack that struck an election convoy of the main opposition party, the Pakistan Muslim League-N, in southwestern Balochistan Province.

The attack was carried out in Khuzdar district, some 350 kilometers (220 miles) south of provincial capital Quetta.

According to authorities, Sanaullah Zehri, the head of the Pakistan Muslim League-N in Balochistan Province, was heading a convoy of vehicles to address an election rally in the district. Zehri escaped the assassination attempt but his son, brother, nephew and their guard were all killed in the attack.

On April 14, Pakistani police officials said a roadside bomb attack in the northwestern part of the country killed a local leader of the ANP.

“Mukarram Shah, was travelling to Mingora when his vehicle was targeted by an IED (improvised explosive device), around 12 km northeast of Mingora city,” said Gul Afzal Afridi the district police chief.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but police officials blame pro-Taliban militants who have carried out similar assaults in the past.

On March 31, a roadside bomb attack in northwestern town of Bannu killed two people and wounded six others, including a member of the ANP identified as Adnan Wazir, who is a candidate for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial assembly in the May 11.

Pakistan has been experiencing increasing violence as the country prepares to hold the May 11 general election and provincial polls.

Thousands of Pakistanis have lost their lives in bombings and other militant attacks since October 2001, when Pakistan joined an alliance with the United States in its so-called war on terror.

Since late 2009, there has been a surge in militant attacks in Pakistan and thousands more have been displaced by the wave of violence and militancy sweeping across the country.

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