Election candidate, his two supporters shot dead in Balochistan

Unidentified gunmen shot dead an election candidate and his two supporters in restive Balochistan province early Tuesday, an official said.

Abul Fateh Magsi, an independent candidate for a provincial assembly seat, came under attack in Jhal Magsi area where he had gone for election campaign, deputy commissioner, Saeed Ahmad told the media.

The Election Commission of Pakistan postponed election in the area and a new date will be announced later, a spokesman said.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack.

Police said that Magsi had gone for campaign on Monday and had night stay and when he resumed campaign Tuesday morning, unidentified fired at him, killing him at the scene.

Police sources said the election rivalry could be the main reason for the incident and Magsi had challenged influential candidates in the area for the first time.

Local TV channels reported that Magsi supporters and rivals exchanged fire for few hours. However, firing subsided after security forces arrived in the area and controlled the situation.

It is the latest incident of pre-election violence as attacks on political leaders have increased ahead of the May 11 parliamentary elections.

Taliban had announced to target three liberal political parties on the notion that they had adopted a ‘secular doctrine’.

Nearly 50 people have been killed and over 150 injured in pre-elections attacks in one week, a rights group say.

Magsi was the second candidate to be killed during the election campaign this month.

Earlier a provincial assembly candidate in southern Sindh province, Fakhar-ul-Islam was killed on April 11 in Hyderabad in firing incident.

Taliban had claimed responsibility for the attack.

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Posted by Tahir Khan on Apr 30 2013. Filed under Latest News, National, Pakistan, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.