Pakistan blasts: Country mourns over three terror attacks that left more than 150 people dead ahead of 25 July polls

Islamabad: Pakistanis on Sunday observed a national day of mourning after three recent deadly terror attacks at political rallies left more than 150 people dead, raising security concerns ahead of the 25 July general elections. The national flags flew at half-staff across the country to mourn those killed in the attacks in Peshawar, Mastung and Bannu. At least 131 people, including Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) leader Siraj Raisani, were killed on Friday in the Mastung district of Balochistan province, the deadliest attack in Pakistan this year. [caption id=“attachment_4748101” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Members of a civil society hold a demonstration to condemn Friday’s deadliest suicide bombing in Islamabad. AP[/caption] On the same day, five people were killed in Bannu in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. On Tuesday, the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) targeted a political rally in north-western province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, killing at least 20 people including a candidate for the provincial Assembly. Caretaker Prime Minister Justice (retired) Nasir-ul-Mulk visited Quetta, the provincial capital and largest city of Balochistan, on Sunday and held a meeting with the governor and chief minister and discussed the security situation. Mulk was accompanied by Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani and Caretaker Chief Minister Allauddin Marri. Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan visited Mastung blast victims on Sunday afternoon before meeting members of the Raisani family to offer his condolences. PML-N chairman Shehbaz Sharif also visited the Raisani family and said that steps should be taken to ensure swift justice for Siraj Raisani’s death. “A commission should be made to investigate this case from all angles,” he was quoted as saying by the Dawn newspaper. “We have already expressed our reservations about the upcoming elections. There is a strong need for the elections to be free and fair. The country will only move forward if the upcoming election is 100 percent free of any outside influence,” Sharif said, speaking about the upcoming election. The Balochistan government has also announced to observe three-day mourning in the province. The back-to-back attacks on election rallies have renewed concerns that violence could disrupt the elections scheduled for 25 July.