At least 28 people were killed Wednesday by two separate bomb blasts outside the offices of election candidates in southwestern Pakistan, on the eve of a national vote marred by violence and allegations of pre-poll rigging.
More than half a million security officers were deploying ahead of Thursday's election, with authorities distributing ballot papers to more than 90,000 polling stations.
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for both bombings leading into the vote already marred by multiple security incidents including at least two candidates shot dead and dozens more targeted in attacks across the country.
"The aim of today's blasts was to sabotage the election," said Jan Achakzai, caretaker information minister for Balochistan province, where the explosions happened.
"Despite today's blasts, the election will take place tomorrow. People of Balochistan will come out tomorrow without any fear."
A first improvised explosive device (IED) blast killed 16 people near the office of an independent candidate in Pishin district, around 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the city of Quetta and 100 kilometres from the Afghan border.
A second IED killed 12 people near the election office of a candidate for the Islamist Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-F (JUI-F) party in the city of Killa Saifullah, about 120 kilometres east, according to Achakzai.
"The incident took place in the main bazaar of the city area, where the election office of the JUI-F was targeted," a senior police official told AFP.
Achakzai said a total of 34 people were injured in both attacks.
In a statement on messaging app Telegram, IS said that in the Pishin bombing its fighters "blew up a motorbike" rigged with explosives "at an election gathering" there.
The violence drew condemnation from the United Nations, where Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed revulsion, according to his office.
"We strongly condemn the horrific attacks, and the bomb explosions that we saw earlier today that killed many, many people and injured many more a day before the elections, clearly related to the elections," spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.
"The secretary-general wants to emphasize the right of Pakistanis to participate in an election that is free from fear, from intimidation and frankly from violence."
Last July, 44 people were killed by a suicide bomber at a political gathering of JUI-F in northwestern Pakistan.
Resource-rich Balochistan province -- Pakistan's least populous -- is home to several militant groups fighting for a bigger share of its wealth, and has also been the target of attacks by IS in the past.
Rise in attacks
Pakistan's election has been blemished by allegations of pre-poll rigging following a crackdown on the party of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan, who won the 2018 poll but was booted out of power by a national assembly vote of no confidence four years later.
Campaigning officially ended on Tuesday night and voting was due to begin at 8:00 am (0300 GMT) Thursday, closing at 5:00pm.
About 128 million of Pakistan's 240 million people are eligible to vote.
Nearly 18,000 candidates are standing for seats in the national and four provincial assemblies, with 266 seats directly contested in the former -- an additional 70 reserved for women and minorities -- and 749 places in the regional parliaments.
"We must ensure security measures at every level," Sindh provincial police chief Rafat Mukhtar told a news briefing Wednesday in the port city of Karachi.
The Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies, an Islamabad-based think tank, said there had been a "staggering" rise in militant attacks in the past year with an average of 54 per month -- the most since 2015, when the army launched a crackdown on militant groups.
Whoever wins takes over a deeply divided country, observers say, with the economy in tatters.
Inflation is galloping at nearly 30 per cent, the rupee has been in free fall for three years and a balance-of-payments deficit has frozen imports, severely hampering industrial growth.
Pollsters have said the election has left the population at its most "discouraged" in years.
"The political atmosphere ahead of Pakistan's first general election since 2018 is equally as glum as the economic one," polling agency Gallup said.
