69 people die in election violence before Sharif returns



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LAHORE, Pakistan – The deadliest attack of the election campaign in Pakistan has left 65 dead at a rally in southwestern Baluchistan Friday before the Return to Pakistan of former disgraced Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif

It is expected that Sharif will be taken by helicopter to the federal capital of Islamabad when he returns Friday from London to Pakistan to face a 10-year prison sentence for corruption, officials said in the fight against corruption. The provincial interior minister said that the record of a deadly attack near the election rally of a politician candidate for a seat in the provincial legislature of Baluchistan also seriously injured candidate Siraj Raisani said Minister Agha Umar Bungalzai. He told the Associated Press that 45 people were injured in the Friday bombing in Mastung, a city in Baluchistan province (19659008). from Lahore was delayed until 8 pm He will be accompanied by his daughter Mariam, sentenced to seven years in prison. The two men were in London to visit the sick woman of Sharif when a Pakistani court found them guilty of corruption

The officials spoke under cover of anonymity because they were not allowed to inform the media

. his sentence of one year imprisonment for the same charge, which stems from the purchase of luxury apartments in Britain which, according to the court, were purchased with l & # 's 39, money acquired illegally.

Sharif should appeal his conviction and apply for bail. Upon his return, the police swept Lahore, arresting dozens of Sharif's Islamic Party workers to prevent them from greeting him at the airport.

Barbed wire was strung on some roads leading to Lahore airport on Friday and barricades the roadside is ready to close the main boulevards if the crowds begin to congregate.

In a video message aired Friday aboard his plane en route to Pakistan, Sharif returned, knowing that he would be directly taken to jail.

Sharif was banned from participating in politics, and his brother Shahbaz Sharif now heads his Muslim league in Pakistan and is campaigning for re-election on July 25.

Televised call to London supporters earlier this week, Sharif said he was not afraid of prison and asked people to vote for his party. He also took the opportunity to criticize again the powerful Pakistani army, which has ruled the country directly or indirectly for most of its 71-year history, claiming that Pakistan now has a "state of above the state ". Sharif criticized the involvement of the army in civil affairs and its efforts in the fight against extremists.

Pakistani and international defense groups have accused the military of seeking to maintain their influence in Pakistani politics by keeping Sharif out of power. The army denied the accusations saying that their assistance in carrying out elections had been requested by the Pakistan Election Commission. The army will deploy 350,000 security guards in the country's polling stations on polling day

Highlighting the security threat, Friday's attacks left 69 dead in the latest election-related violence. The first bomb that killed four people exploded in the northwest near the election rally of a politician from an Islamist party who comes to parliament in the northwestern town of Bannu [19659015]. and injured 20 people, said local police chief Rashid Khan.

Durrani is running for office on July 25 against former MP Imran Khan. He is a candidate of Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, an electoral alliance of radical religious groups.

The second explosion was in southwest Baluchistan province, which killed 65 people and seriously injured the candidate. In the attack of Mastung, a town in southwestern Balochistan

Nobody claimed responsibility for the attacks, but the attacks occurred a few days after a suicide bomber sent by the Pakistani Taliban has killed secular politician Haroon Ahmed Bilour and 20 other people at his rally The former legislator Imran Khan, who hopes to become the next prime minister, condemned Friday's attack against his opponent, Durrani. In a tweet, he said that there seems to be a conspiracy to sabotage the July 25 vote. But he said that the Pakistani people would not allow anything to prevent the "historic" elections from taking place

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Sattar reported from Quetta, Pakistan and writers of the Associated Press Riaz Khan in Peshawar and Munir Ahmed and Kathy Gannon in Islamabad contributed to this report.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This document may not be published, distributed, rewritten or redistributed.

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