QUETTA, May 6: An election convoy of National Party chief Dr Abdul Malik Baloch and other leaders of the party returning to Turbat after attending meetings in nearby villages, was attacked by grenades on Monday. The leaders and workers remained safe, but two passersby were injured and two vehicles were damaged.

Sources said that Dr Malik, Dr Yasin Baloch and other leaders had been targeted by suspected insurgents.

“Dr Malik, Dr Yasin and other leaders were safe,” Tahir Bizenjo, NP’s Secretary General, told Dawn.

He condemned the attack and said that such attacks and other difficulties would not deter his party from its resolve to fully participate in the elections. An office of National Party was attacked in Mach, leaving four people injured.

A week ago, the residence of Dr Malik in Turbat was attacked when he was presiding over an election meeting.

In another incident, insurgents blew up four government schools and a rural health centre in Mastung and Barkhan districts.

The schools and the health centre have been designated as polling stations by the Election Commission.

Reports reaching here from Kharan said that the guest house of PML-N National Assembly candidate retired Lt Gen Abdul Qadir Baloch also came under attack which injured two nephews of Mr Baloch and 11 other people.

In Panjgur, the house of NA candidate Jahanzaib Baloch was damaged when it was hit by a rocket.

About the attacks in Mastung and Barkhan, police said that bombs planted in two primary schools for girls and a rural health centre in Nehar Goth had been detonated with remote control.

“The powerful blasts destroyed the buildings of both the schools and the rural health centre,” the source said.

Another government high school was destroyed in Splingi area of Mastung district. Levies’ officials said that insurgents had planted a bomb in the school building and detonated at night.

A spokesman for the outlawed Baloch Republican Army, Salman Baloch, in a late-night telephone call claimed responsibility for the attack.

Opinion

Editorial

Digital growth
Updated 25 Apr, 2024

Digital growth

Democratising digital development will catalyse a rapid, if not immediate, improvement in human development indicators for the underserved segments of the Pakistani citizenry.
Nikah rights
25 Apr, 2024

Nikah rights

THE Supreme Court recently delivered a judgement championing the rights of women within a marriage. The ruling...
Campus crackdowns
25 Apr, 2024

Campus crackdowns

WHILE most Western governments have either been gladly facilitating Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, or meekly...
Ties with Tehran
Updated 24 Apr, 2024

Ties with Tehran

Tomorrow, if ties between Washington and Beijing nosedive, and the US asks Pakistan to reconsider CPEC, will we comply?
Working together
24 Apr, 2024

Working together

PAKISTAN’S democracy seems adrift, and no one understands this better than our politicians. The system has gone...
Farmers’ anxiety
24 Apr, 2024

Farmers’ anxiety

WHEAT prices in Punjab have plummeted far below the minimum support price owing to a bumper harvest, reckless...