Repolling delayed in Balochistan’s Kohlu after landmine explosion injures 2

Repolling in the Kohlu district of Balochistan for the PB-9 constituency could not take place on Wednesday after a landmine exploded and rockets were fired at a polling station, according to the deputy commissioner.

The incident came just hours after one person was killed in a rocket attack at the election office of a PPP candidate late on Tuesday evening.

Officials said two rockets, fired from an unknown location, landed and exploded near the election office of Mir Nasibullah Marri. The victim was hit by splinters, resulting in his death.

Marri had contested the election for Balochistan Assembly from Kohlu’s PB-9 constituency and was elected MPA. However, the losing candidate challenged the result, and the Election Commission ordered re-polling in seven polling stations.

Speaking to Dawn.com, Deputy Commissioner (DC) and District Returning Officer Naqibullah Kakar confirmed that of the six rockets fired at the polling station this morning, three rocket shells landed inside the premises and exploded.

Separately, a landmine explosion took place on the road near the polling station. The explosion rocked a car but there was no loss of life since the vehicle was bulletproof, DC Kakar confirmed, adding that two people travelling in the car were only “slightly injured”.

The Frontier Corps bomb disposal team and levies forces arrived at the scene following the explosion, where they found a second landmine and defused it, he added.

He said work was under way to clear the roads, and polling agents were proceeding to the polling stations under the protection of security forces, .

Polling was scheduled to begin at 8am today. However, owing to landmines laid out at different places, staff were delayed in reaching polling stations, DC Kakar said. Till 12pm, polling had not begun, he added.

The DC noted that due to tension in the region, maintaining peaceful conditions was the top priority. He further said that the provincial government was already informed about the precarious security situation.

Past pre-poll violence

At least 28 people were killed while over 40 suffered injuries after back-to-back blasts hit Balochistan’s Pishin and Qila Saifullah a day before the February 8 elections were scheduled to be held in the country.

The first blast occurred in Pishin’s Khanozai union council, situated at an hour’s distance from Quetta, a little after noon.

The district’s deputy commissioner, Jumma Dad Mandokhail, had told Dawn.com that the incident occurred outside the election office of independent candidate Asfandyar Kakar, who was contesting polls from PB-47 (Pishin 1).

He said 14 bodies and 23 injured were moved to the tehsil headquarters hospital. Later, the facility’s medical superintendent Dr Habib Kakar told Dawn.com that the death toll had risen to 18 after four wounded people succumbed to their injuries.

DC Mandokhail said the explosive material was planted in a motorcycle parked in the area. The police, bomb disposal squad and other law enforcement agencies immediately cordoned off the area and began collecting evidence, he added.

The second blast was reported in Qila Saifullah shortly after. According to Deputy Commissioner Yasir Bazai, 12 people lost their lives and 20 were wounded in the incident, which took place outside the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) election office.

Bazai later revised the death toll down to 10, adding that critical persons were being moved to Quetta via a helicopter.

A day earlier, at least nine grenade attacks, targeting election offices of candidates and polling stations, were carried out in various areas of Balochistan’s Makran division and Quetta.