Guterres condemns election eve terror attacks in Pakistan

United Nations, Feb 8 (IANS) UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemns "in strongest terms" the bomb blasts in Pakistan targetting two political offices on the eve of the election, his Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said."The Secretary-General wants to emphasise the right of Pakistanis to participate in elections that is free from fear, from intimidation and, frankly, from violence," he said at his daily briefing on Wednesday."He condemns in strongest terms the horrific attacks and the bomb explosions that we saw earlier today that killed many, many people and injured many more, a day before the elections, (attacks) clearly related to the elections," Dujarric added.The two terrorist attacks in Balochistan rocked Pakistan, which is set to hold elections shrouded in controversy, with the main opposition leader Imran Khan in jail and barred from contesting the elections.Khan, a leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), lost the prime ministership in 2022 when a vote of no-confidence prevailed against him in the National Assembly.He was charged with corruption and violating the National Secrets Law and convicted on several charges that have brought him prison terms of more than a decade.According to media reports quoting officials, at least 18 people were killed in the attack on the office of an independent candidate in Jumadad Mandokhel, which was followed by another bomb blast at an office of the Jamiat Ulema Islam's party office in Qilla Saifullah, killing at least 12 more.Last week, a bomb attack on a PTI election rally in the Sibi district of Balochistan killed four people, and in a separate incident, an independent candidate affiliated with the PTI was killed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.Dujarric said the UN will "stand in solidarity with the government of people in Pakistan in their efforts to address extremism and terrorism".(Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed at @arulouis)--IANSarul/khz

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