Bomb blast in Pakistan election rally; five killed, 37 injured

At least five people were killed and 37 others injured on Friday as a bomb explosion hit an election rally in northwest Pakistan. The injured included former federal minister and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) central leader Akram Khan Durrani.

The blast took place at Bannu district bordering north Waziristan tribal district. It took place around 40 metre away from the venue of a public meeting, Regional police officer Bannu Karim Khan said told reporters.

This is the third terror attack on a political rally ahead of the July 25 general elections.

The explosives were fitted to a motorbike which exploded close to the vehicle of Durrani, who is the candidate of Muttahida Majlis-e-mal (MMA), a political alliance consisting of conservative, Islamist, religious, and far-right parties of Pakistan.

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The injured have been shifted to a local hospital where five are stated to be in critical condition.

On July 10, senior secular leader of the Awami National Party (ANP) Haroon Bilour and 19 others were killed when a Taliban suicide bomber blew himself up in an election rally in Pakistan’s northwestern Peshawar city.

Earlier this month, seven people, including a candidate of the MMA, were injured in an explosion during an election rally near Takhtikhel in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.