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Pre-Election Violence in Pakistan |
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With parliamentary elections now only two days away, the picture in Pakistan still looks bleak.
Today, the last day of general campaigning, has been marred by several suicide attacks, including a large one on supporters of Bhutto’s PPP.
The Interior Ministry said 37 people were killed and more than 90 wounded in the blast.
In another suspected suicide attack in the northwest, two civilians were killed and four soldiers wounded in the Swat valley, a military official said.
The northwest has been hit by a surge of violence since July, but attacks have taken place in major cities across Pakistan and there are fears of more.
Police in the southern city of Hyderabad said they had arrested three suspected suicide bombers believed to be planning attacks on polling stations and seized 10 kg (22 lb) of explosives and a suicide bomb jacket.
The violence in what has been one of the country’s bloodiest election campaigns has unnerved politicians and voters, and turnout on Monday could be low despite the deployment of more than 80,000 troops.
Rumors of vote-rigging are flying. And neighboring countries like India and Afghanistan, as well as Britain and the US, are deeply concerned about the outcome. With violence, bitterness, and division mounting, it appears more likely that we’ll need to brace ourselves for the worst come next week.
