PISHIN/QILA SAIFULLAH: At least 28 people were killed while over 40 suffered injuries after back-to-back blasts hit Balochistan’s Pishin and Qila Saifullah on Wednesday, officials said.

The incidents come a day before general elections are scheduled to be held in the country. Pakistan has recently witnessed an uptick in terrorism, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, raising security concerns.

The first blast occurred in Pishin’s Khanozai union council, situated at an hour’s distance from Quetta, a little after noon.

The district’s deputy commissioner, Jumma Dad Mandokhail, told Dawn.com that the incident occurred outside the election office of independent candidate Asfandyar Kakar, who is contesting polls from PB-47 (Pishin 1).

He said 14 bodies and 23 injured were moved to the tehsil headquarters hospital. Later, the facility’s medical superintendent Dr Habib Kakar said  that the death toll had risen to 18 after four wounded people succumbed to their injuries.

DC Mandokhail said the explosive material was planted in a motorcycle parked in the area. The police, bomb disposal squad and other law enforcement agencies immediately cordoned off the area and began collecting evidence, he added.

The second blast was reported in Qila Saifullah shortly after. According to Deputy Commissioner Yasir Bazai, 12 people lost their lives and 20 were wounded in the incident, which took place outside the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) election office.

Bazai later revised the death toll down to 10, adding that critical persons were being moved to Quetta via a helicopter.