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Saturday, July 14, a suicide bombing, during an electoral meeting, made 128 deaths in the province of Baluchistan while parliamentary elections are scheduled in the country on July 25. On his return to Pakistan, Pakistan's former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, was arrested for corruption.
"Carnage in Mastung" headlined the daily Express Tribune on a Saturday, July 14, a "massacre denounced The News Pakistan was shocked in the aftermath of a bloody suicide bombing that killed 128 people in Baluchistan (south-west of the country).
To read TRIBUNE "The situation of Pakistan does not date from yesterday "
The deadliest attack since 2014
The relatives of the victims of the attack, the deadliest in Pakistan since the attack on a school in Peshawar that had done more of 150 dead in December 2014, began this Saturday to bring the victims to earth in the city of Mastung, about forty kilometers from the Balochian capital Quetta, in the south-west of the country. A ceremony was also planned in the afternoon.
The attack was aimed at a political rally of Mir Siraj Raisani, candidate for a provincial deputy seat under the banner of the party Baluchistan Awami Party (BAP), who died in the attack.
His assistant claimed that the suicide bomber "was in the front row" . "He got up and blew himself up as soon as Raisani started his speech" he said. Witnesses reported scenes "frightening" after the explosion. The evacuation of the dead and wounded had to be done largely in the dark for lack of electricity. Baluchistan (shared with Iran) is the poorest and most unstable of the provinces of Pakistan.
150 deaths in four days
The attack, which has been claimed by Daesh, is the third to hit a election meeting this week in Pakistan. In total, the violence killed at least 150 people in the space of four days, including two candidates for election.
These events bring up the specter of instability and violence in a country where the security situation is over. has been significantly improved in recent years and while the election campaign has so far been relatively unaffected by the violence, especially compared to the previous one in 2013 and that of 2007, when candidate Benazi Bhutto was murdered.
to the attacks, some contest the overly political role of the army. She is regularly suspected of interfering underhand in Pakistani politics, which she denies. In its editorial, the daily Dawn calls on the authorities in "not only to enhance security but also to mobilize the entire intelligence apparatus to do the work it is supposed to do, that is, to say prevent the attacks ».
To read Pakistan: a branch of Daesh claims an attack in front of a church
The former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif arrested
Now, the day before the attack, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam were arrested in Lahore on their return home. They are accused of corruption. Although he can not stand for election – his brother will wear the colors of his party, the PML-N – his sentencing to ten years in prison last week and his incarceration are also feeding tensions
His clan describes them as "political" and Nawaz Sharif accuses the powerful Pakistani army of conspiring against him and interfering in political life, which she denies. "I know that (…) I will be taken directly to prison" Nawaz Sharif declared in a video made public Friday, July 13 before his arrest
"I want to say to the Pakistanis that I did that for you (…) Walk with me, join your hands to mine and change the destination of the country " he had launched. He was dismissed in July 2017 by the Supreme Court in the same case of corruption.
According to analysts, this return seems mainly guided by the desire to save his party, the PML-N, whose electoral campaign was beating. 'wing and whose lead in the polls has melted lately against his main rival, the PTI, led by former cricket champion Imran Khan.
Agnès Rotivel (with AFP)
