QUETTA: At least 128, including Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) candidate Nawabzada Siraj Raisani, were martyred when a suicide explosion hit an election gathering in the Darengarh area of Mastung on Friday, the caretaker provincial home minister confirmed.
Confirming the death toll, Home Minister Agha Umar Bangalzai said that more than 120 people were wounded in the blast.
Lashkari Raisani confirmed his brother Siraj had lost his life in the explosion. “Aslam Raisani and I are also receiving threats,” he said.
Officials of the Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) confirmed that it was a suicide blast. They said that around 16-20 kilogram of explosives were used in the explosion.
Following the incident, an emergency was declared in Quetta hospitals, with additional medical staff summoned.
Raisani, a candidate of the recently-formed Balochistan Awami Party from PB-35 constituency, was the younger brother of former Balochistan chief minister Nawab Aslam Raisani. The BAP has announced three days of mourning.
In July 2011, Siraj Raisani lost his 14-year-old son in a terrorist attack in Mastung, in which several others, including security personnel, were killed.
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Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa expressed sorrow over the loss of innocent lives and condemned the terror attack.
