89 killed in Pakistan election violence as ex-PM Sharif is arrested

Ousted Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam, both sentenced to lengthy, returned to Pakistan to face a high-stakes gamble to galvanize their beleaguered party in a general election campaign marred by deadly violence.

Uniformed men escorted the Sharifs, who were sentenced in absentia on corruption charges last week, 8:45 pm, Reuters reporter on the plane said.

Local Geo TV reported the pair were placed under arrest and taken away from Lahore, where more than 10,000 Sharif supporters were gathered to support him.

A suicide bomber killed scores at an election rally in southwestern Pakistan in the second election-related attack of the day, and the biggest attack in the country in over a year.

Baluchistan Health Minister Faiz Kakar

Senior police official Qaim Lashari had earlier than 1,000 people were in attendance at the rally in the town of Mastung in the violence-plagued province

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

Among those killed was Baluchistan provincial badembly candidate Siraj Raisani, whose brother, Nawab Aslam Raisani, had served as the provincial chief minister from 2008 to 2013.

Ousted Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, trailed by his daughter, boards at Lahore-bound flight for departure, at Abu Dhabi International Airport on Friday. (Drazen Jorgic / Reuters)

"My brother Siraj Raisani has been martyred," said Haji Lashkari Raisani, another brother who is also contesting a national badembly seat from Baluchistan.

Earlier in the day, a bomb blast killed four people in the northern town of Bannu when it struck the campaign convoy of Akram Khan Durrani, an ally of Sharif's party of the religious Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal party (MMA).

Sharif is returning from Britain one week after an anti-corruption short handed him a 10-year jail term over the purchase of luxury London flats, and sentenced his daughter and political heir to seven years in prison. PML-N loyalists said they would march to the airport in defiance of a public rallies.

Thousands of police were deployed in the city of Lahore and shipping containers along the way that could be used to block protesters who support the train from the direction of the airport,

The return of the Sharifs could shake up an election race marred by claims Pakistan's powerful military is working behind the scenes to skew the contest in favor of ex-cricket hero Imran Khan.

Sharif alleges the military is aiding a "judicial witch-hunt" against him and his PML-N party. The party's past five years in power has been punctuated by the civil-military discord that has plagued Pakistan since its inception

Supporters of ousted Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif take part in a march towards the airport ahead of his arrival from London via the United Arab Emirates. Sharif, Nawaz's younger brother and the head of the Pakistani Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-L) party.

In a televised appeal to supporters London earlier this week, Sharif said he was not in prison and asked to vote for his party. He also used the opportunity to again criticize Pakistan's powerful military, saying the country now has "state-of-the-state."

The opposition Pakistan People's Party (PPP) also alleged "pre-poll rigging" this week, but did not

The military, which has ruled Pakistan for about half its history since 1947, has denied interfering in modern-day politics. It's a place where you can count on the number of people polled by polling stations.

"Nawaz really believes this is about democracy and his legacy," Musadik Malik, Sharif ally and train PML-N cabinet minister, told Reuters. That's why he is willing to lose 10 years of his life over this.

Panama Papers spurred ouster

Sharif's PML-N expects a groundswell of support as he returns from London, where his wife Kulsoom is critically ill and undergoing cancer treatment. To prevent PML-N workers from staging a hero's welcome on the streets, authorities said they would arrest the father and daughter and landed them to the capital Islamabad by helicopter, local media reported.

Sharif's return comes at a time of A few days ago, they were considered to be a favorite to retain power.

Police officers are deployed at Lahore airport in Pakistan on Friday in ancient Sharif's return. Sharif will then be whisked away to the federal capital of Islamabad to face a 10-year prison sentence on corruption charges. (KM Chaudary / Associated Press)

Recent polls suggest PML-N has lost its lead nationally to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party of arch-rival Khan, whose anti-corruption message has resonated with many Pakistanis.

Khan has painted Sharif as a "criminal" (19659002) Sharif was ordered jailed after failing to explain how the family acquires London Panama Papers revelations that they showed the properties through off-shore companies. Maryam was convicted for concealing ownership of the apartments. They both deny wrongdoing

After the Supreme Court ousted Sharif last July, the PML-N party was born. His brother Shehbaz became PML-N's president, but Sharif remains the power behind the throne.

Since then, a host of his allies have been disqualified by the courts. Many PML-N lawmakers also defected to Khan's party

Imran Khan, chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), speaks during a conference in Islamabad on Monday. The PTI hopes to capitalize in the July 25 election over the PML-N, which seemed like a last position before Sharif's ouster. (Faisal Mahmood / Reuters)

PML-N has also had internal divisions. Sections of the party opposes Sharif's combative approach against the army, and fear it will turn off voters in a deeply conservative and patriotic Muslim nation of 208 million people.

The kind of reception Sharif receives on the streets of Lahore will be reviewed in Pakistan, where political popularity is actually measured by the size of

PML-N leaders say authorities have started a crackdown against a union leaders, the street-level party workers who bring out people on the streets

"Those who think they can scare us …" We are winning this election, "Shehbaz Sharif told reporters in Lahore on Thursday.

Friday's violence was not an anomaly. A suicide bomber blew himself up to a rally by an anti-Taliban political party in the northern city of Peshawar on Tuesday, killing 20 people, including Haroon Bilour, who was vying for a provincial badembly seat.

The Pakistani Taliban for the attack.