SHIKARPUR/QUETTA, May 1: Two candidates survived bomb attacks on their convoys and the public meeting of a religious party and the election office of a candidate came under attack in poll-related violence in Sindh and Balochistan on Wednesday. Eleven people were injured in the incidents.

According to police, Dr Mohammad Ibrahim Jatoi, a National People’s Party (NPP) candidate for NA-202 Shikarpur-I, was going to Zarkhail from his Napearabad village to attend an election meeting when a suicide bomber blew himself up near his motorcade on Shikarpur-Khanpur stretch of the Indus Highway, near Toll Plaza.

Dr Jatoi survived the attack as he was on a bullet-proof vehicle which was damaged in the blast. Three passers-by were injured.

According to witnesses, the 30-year old bomber had taken cover behind a tree and when the motorcade reached near him, he detonated the explosives hidden in his suicide jacket. Two body parts of the bomber were brought to Civil Hospital for examination. The injured were taken to different hospitals. According to sources, people caught a suspect who was injured and handed him over to police.

Police said 15kgs of explosives were used in the blast.

Soon after the attack, the highway was blocked and all markets and shops in Shikarpur were closed in protest against the incident.

The attack drew a strong reaction from leaders of the NPP, PPP (Parliamentarians), PML-Functional and nationalist parties. They asked the caretaker government and the Election Commission (ECP) to provide security cover to candidates and voters.

BALOCHISTAN: An election meeting of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) in Harnai town and an election office of a PML-N candidate in Quetta came under attack. Eight people were injured in the two incidents.

According to sources, the JUI-F had arranged a public meeting in connection with the campaign of its candidates — Baz Mohammad Marri for NA 265 Sibi-Kohlu and Syed Khaliq Shah for PB 22 Harnai. The party’s Balochistan chief, Maulana Mohammad Khan Shirani, and other senior leaders were to address the meeting.

The sources said rockets were fired from the nearby mountains while the JUI-F leaders were addressing the gathering.

“Ten rockets were fired at brief intervals but these could not hit the target and exploded after landing in the open,” officials said, adding that the attack caused panic among the people and they started running for shelter.

Four JUI-F workers were injured in the stampede.

Maulana Shirani and other senior leaders of the party were not present at the time of the attack. They reached the place after the attack. Four workers were injured when militants on a motorcycle hurled a grenade at the election office of PML-N leader Nawabzada Lashkari Raisani in Quetta’s Arbab Ghulam Ali Road area. Mr Lashkari is contesting for a provincial assembly seat (PB 4 Quetta-IV). Police shifted the injured to Civil Hospital. “The office was badly damaged in the blast,” police said.

In Nasirabad, an independent candidate narrowly escaped a car bomb attack.

According to police, militants parked an explosives-laden car on a bridge in Bedari area of Dera Murad Jamali to target the election rally of Allah Dino Umrani, an independent candidate for BP 29 Nasirabad.

“Fortunately, the bomb exploded when the rally was about to reach the bridge,” a senior police officer said, adding that Allah Dino and his supporters in the rally were safe. “About 10 to 15kgs of explosives were used to target election rally,” police said.

On Tuesday late night, election offices of two candidates were attacked with grenades in Noshki and Hub.