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Ambulances and soldiers at the scene of a suicide bombing on July 13, 2018 Mastung, Pakistan / AFP
Less than two weeks away from parliamentary elections, tension rekindled Saturday in Pakistan in the aftermath of a suicide bombing of an election rally that left at least 128 people dead. arrest of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
Claimed by the group Islamic State, the attack, whose record is still provisional, occurred in Mastung, about forty kilometers from the capital of the province Baluchistan, Quetta, in the south-west of the country.
This is the third attack this week and the second in one day on Friday for an election rally, before the general elections of July 25, in a climate of more and more tense.
The former Prime Nawaz Sharif, sentenced last week to ten years in prison for corruption, was detained with his daughter Maryam, sentenced to seven years in prison, on her arrival in Pakistan Friday from Abu Dhabi.
An injured man is taken to hospital July 13, 2018 in Quetta, after a suicide bombing that struck an election rally in Mastung, southwestern Pakistan / AFP
His sentence was denounced as "political" by his clan and caused a sudden rise in tension before elections. Many observers were concerned about the campaign's turn, where several cases of kidnappings, pressure and threats on media and political activists have been reported. Questioned, the army denies any involvement
"I know that (…) I will be taken directly to prison," Sharif said in a video released earlier Friday by his party. "I want to say to the Pakistanis that I did this for you (…) Walk with me, join your hands with mine and change the destination of the country," said Sharif, who remains very influential.
Until this week, the election campaign was relatively spared from the violence.
But with 128 deaths, according to provincial authorities, the attack of Mastung is the deadliest in Pakistan since the attack of a school of Peshawar, perpetrated in December 2014 by a Taliban commando, which had killed more than 150 people.
The attack was aimed at a political rally by Mir Siraj Raisani, candidate for a provincial deputy seat under the banner of the Baluchistan Awami Party (BAP), who died in the attack.
"We were standing outside the complex and when Raisani started his speech, a deafening explosion occurred," said a witness to AFP, Salam Baloch.
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz seated in a after arriving in Lahore on 14 July 2018 / PML-N / AFP
"I saw large balls of fire and smoke, people put the dead and wounded in rickshaw and took them away to the hospital before help arrives, "he added.
Raisani's assistant, Shams Mengal, said the suicide bomber" was in the front row ". got up and blew himself off as soon as Raisani started his speech, "he said.
– A" scary "scene –
The Scene e after the blast was "scary," said another witness, Atta Ullah. "Human remains and bloody pieces of flesh were scattered all over the complex, wounded screaming in pain and fear."
People came to identify the bodies of victims on 13 July 2018 in a hospital in Quetta, after a suicide attack in Mastung, southwest Pakistan
/ AFP
"We arrived at the site of the explosion and found people scattered and there was hardly anyone in good condition.We alerted our vehicles.Thirty ambulances arrived and the dead and wounded have been transferred "to hospitals," said an ambulance worker from the NGO Edhi, Arif.
The evacuation of the dead and wounded had to be done largely in the dark for lack of electricity, according to a journalist AFP on the spot. Baluchistan is the poorest and most unstable of the provinces of Pakistan
Earlier in the day, another bomb hidden on a motorcycle exploded near Bannu (north-west), passing another convoy candidate, killing four people and injuring forty others, police said.
Politician Akram Khan Durrani, representative of a coalition of religious parties, MMA, survived the attack.
A suicide bombing claimed by the Pakistani Taliban also targeted a meeting on Tuesday night. Awami National Party (ANP) election in Peshawar, killing 22 people, including local politician Haroon Bilour, according to a new report.
"The Pakistani authorities have a duty to protect the rights of all people. Pakistanis at this time of elections: their physical security and their ability to freely express their political opinions, whatever the party to which they belong, "reacted Omar Waraich, Deputy Director for South Asia to Amnesty International.
The army announced earlier this week to plan the deployment of more than 370,000 men to ensure security on voting day.
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