Attacks on political parties continue across Pakistan

Unidentified men open fire on ANP candidate's convoy in Mingora and launch rockets on JUI-F rally in Balochistan.

SWAT: Wednesday saw a firing attack on an Awami National Party (ANP) candidate, rocket attack on Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-e-Fazl (JUI-F) election rally and a suicide attack on National Peoples Party (NPP) candidate, Express news reported.

Violence has spiked in the country ahead of national elections on May 11, with at least 61 people killed in attacks on politicians and political parties since April 11, according to an AFP tally.

Gunmen attack ANP

An election candidate of the ANP escaped an attack in the Mingora district of Swat valley.

According to initial reports, unidentified gunmen opened fire on the convoy of Wajid Ali Khan, who is contesting on PK-80 constituency in Swat.

Earlier during the day, a suicide bomber targeted the convoy of the NPP candidate Mohammad Ibrahim Jatoi in Shikarpur district of Sindh. Two passers-by were wounded in the attack, while Jatoi remained safe.

Attack on JUI-F rally

Six people sustained injuries as over 10 rockets were fired on an election rally of the JUI-F in the Harnai area of Balochistan.

The rockets were fired from a nearby mountain range as the provincial president of the party Maulana Muhammad Khan Sherani was about to deliver his speech.

Sherani and his party members remained safe as the rockets landed in an area close to the rally injuring civilians but fortunately no casualties were reported.

"More than a dozen rockets were fired, two rockets landed inside the city near the rally. Six people have been injured," Yasir Khan, the deputy commissioner of Harnai city told AFP.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Khan said that soldiers deployed for the security of the rally appeared to have been the target.

The Taliban have directly threatened the three main parties in the outgoing government, the Pakistan Peoples Party, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and the ANP, which are often described as secular.