At least 24 killed in two bombings at election offices in Pakistan

A pair of bombings at the election offices of a political party and an independent candidate in south-west Pakistan have killed at least 24 people and wounded more than two dozen others, a day before parliamentary elections are to be held.

In the first attack in Pishin, a district in Balochistan province, at least 14 people were killed, officials said. The wounded were transported to a nearby hospital, some of them listed as in a critical condition.

Later on Wednesday, a bombing at the elections office of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party in Qilla Saifullah, also in Balochistan, killed at least 10 people, local authorities said.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks, which were condemned by the caretaker interior minister, Gohar Ejaz.

The bombings came despite the deployment of tens of thousands of police and paramilitary forces across Pakistan to ensure peace after a recent surge in militant attacks in the country, especially in Balochistan.

The outlawed Balochistan Liberation Army has been behind attacks on security forces in Balochistan, which borders Afghanistan and Iran. On 30 January, a separatist Balochistan Liberation Army group attacked security facilities in Balochistan’s Mach district, killing six people.

In recent years, Pakistan has struggled to rein in surging militancy, especially in the former stronghold of the Pakistan Taliban. Militants have a presence in Balochistan, and have targeted civilians in recent years.

The gas-rich province has been the scene of a low-level insurgency by Baloch nationalists for more than two decades. Baloch nationalists initially wanted a share of the provincial resources, but later they initiated an insurgency for independence.

Pakistani Taliban and other militant groups also have a strong presence in the province.