Before parliamentary elections
Deaths in attack at politician’s office in Pakistan
At least 26 people were killed in attacks in Pakistan on Wednesday. The explosions occurred one day before the parliamentary elections near the offices of constituency candidates. Neither candidate was present at the time of the attack.
According to the police and the information minister of Balochistan province, the first detonation occurred about 100 kilometers from the border with Afghanistan, in the district of Pishin. At least 14 people were killed and more than 30 others were injured. The second attack was carried out in the town of Sayfullah. According to the police, twelve people were killed and nine injured.
A spokesman for the authorities assumed that the attacks were targeted. The first explosion was triggered by a bomb installed on a motorcycle. Initially, no group claimed responsibility for the attacks. Both the terrorist militia Islamic State (IS) and the Pakistani Taliban and separatist groups are active in the province. The Pakistani Taliban had only recently announced in a statement that they would not attack the elections despite their rejection.
No unrestricted access to information
The people of Pakistan will elect a new parliament on Thursday. According to the interior minister, around 600,000 security forces are to protect the elections. Militant Islamist groups have been carrying out an increasing number of attacks for some time. In order to reduce the likelihood of attacks on election day, the authorities have announced that the Internet may be throttled.
Human rights organizations such as Amnesty International warned against such a step. Unrestricted access to information is a human right, they said. Authorities must guarantee this for free, fair and inclusive elections.
Fair ballot?
In total, more than 240 million inhabitants can cast their vote. The Ministry of the Interior announced on Tuesday that the internet may be throttled in some regions. The security of the ballot should be guaranteed, it said. The government has restricted access in the past in order to crack down on the opposition in the country, among other things.
Whether the ballot is fair is questionable anyway. Former prime minister and cricket legend Imran Khan is imprisoned and supporters of his opposition party are only allowed to run as independents. The three-time prime minister and industrial magnate Nawaz Sharif is the favorite in the race.
Kommentare
Willkommen in unserer Community! Eingehende Beiträge werden geprüft und anschließend veröffentlicht. Bitte achten Sie auf Einhaltung unserer Netiquette und AGB. Für ausführliche Diskussionen steht Ihnen ebenso das krone.at-Forum zur Verfügung. Hier können Sie das Community-Team via unserer Melde- und Abhilfestelle kontaktieren.
User-Beiträge geben nicht notwendigerweise die Meinung des Betreibers/der Redaktion bzw. von Krone Multimedia (KMM) wieder. In diesem Sinne distanziert sich die Redaktion/der Betreiber von den Inhalten in diesem Diskussionsforum. KMM behält sich insbesondere vor, gegen geltendes Recht verstoßende, den guten Sitten oder der Netiquette widersprechende bzw. dem Ansehen von KMM zuwiderlaufende Beiträge zu löschen, diesbezüglichen Schadenersatz gegenüber dem betreffenden User geltend zu machen, die Nutzer-Daten zu Zwecken der Rechtsverfolgung zu verwenden und strafrechtlich relevante Beiträge zur Anzeige zu bringen (siehe auch AGB). Hier können Sie das Community-Team via unserer Melde- und Abhilfestelle kontaktieren.