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The election campaign in Pakistan today has seen a bloody day with 132 dead and about 140 wounded in two attacks on political rallies, less than two weeks away from general elections in the country.
The largest of the attacks, with 128 dead and 122 wounded, was claimed by the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group, in one of the worst terrorist acts in Pakistan in recent years.
The attack took place when a suicide bomber detonated the bombs he was carrying at a rally in a market in Mastung district, in the western province of Baluchistan, one of the Pakistani regions most affected by terror.
The event was led by politician Siraj Raisani, of the regional group Awami Nationalist Party (ANP), who died in a hospital center as a result of serious injuries that he suffered, said his brother Lashkari at Efe
.
The deceased was the brother of a former head of Baluchistan's government, Mohammad Aslam Khan Raisani, and one of his sons also died in a terrorist attack in 2011.
Some wounded have were transferred to several hospitals in Quetta, the provincial capital, where health services triggered "emergency state" in the face of mbadive influx of casualties, told Efe Muhammad Ramzan, door -speak of the police. ]
The jihadist Islamic State (IS) group badumed responsibility for the suicide bombing in a brief statement issued by the Amaq agency, akin to the terrorist organization, which states that it was perpetrated "with an explosive belt at an election rally".
The attacker, who was sitting in the badistance, blew up the explosives that he was carrying at the end of the event, according to Efe police spokesman Mastung, Sana Ullah.
Pakistani Prime Minister Nasir ul Mulk, who governs by acting until the next elections, condemns the attack of Mastum "in the most categorical terms" and shows his sorrow for the deceased, while praying for the quick recovery of the wounded, according to a statement.
General Qamar Javed Bajwa, head of the Pakistani army, "condemned the atrocious terrorist attack in Mastung," writes General Asif Ghafoor, director of the Office of Military Communications (ISPR), on his Twitter account.
Bajwa further noted that among the "precious lives lost" was that of Siraj Raisani, a "loyal and capable politician".
"Opponents' attempts to derail democratic activity should not succeed," said Ghafoor.
Earlier, another bomb attack hit an election in the town of Bannu, in the northeastern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which left four dead and nineteen injured.
The purpose of the attack was the former Minister Akram Durrani, Housing Minister of the last central government and the Jamiat-Ulema-Islam party, which left safe and sound.
Last Tuesday, during the first major attack during the election campaign, at least twenty people died and sixty were wounded in a suicide bombing against the ANP, also in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
.
In this action claimed by the Pakistani Taliban, politician Haroon Bilour is dead.
Pakistan will hold a general and provincial election on July 25, in which 105 million citizens are expected to vote, according to the Electoral Commission.
Violence in the country has decreased in 2017 with 1,260 deaths from terrorism (including 540 civilians, 208 members of the security forces and 512 suspected terrorists), the lowest figure in a decade, according to the UN's Terrorism Portal. South Asia, which studies violence in the region.
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