PESHAWAR: Unidentified gunmen shot dead two persons, including an election candidate, in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and southwestern Balochistan provinces on Wednesday, police confirmed, in an alarming sign of violence gripping the country days before national polls.
Pakistan has seen a surge in attacks on political parties and their candidates, with polling booths set to open for voters nationwide on Feb. 8. The latest attacks come a day after an election rally led by former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party in Balochistan’s Sibi was targeted in a blast that killed four and injured five.
Rehan Zeb Khan, a PTI supporter who was contesting polls as an independent candidate from NA-8 constituency in the Bajaur tribal district bordering Afghanistan, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen, police officer Abdul Razzaq confirmed.
“Unidentified gunmen opened indiscriminate fire when Khan and his supporters were busy…