Mastung massacre:128 martyred, over 200 injured in suicide blast claimed by Islamic State

QUETTA: A suicide bomber targeting a political rally of the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) on Friday killed at least 128 people and injured over 200, the deadliest in a string of attacks on electioneering that have heightened security fears ahead of the elections. Among those slain was the candidate for PB-35 (Mastung) Siraj Raisani, whose elder brother Nawab Aslam Raisani had served as the Balochistan chief minister from 2008 to 2013. “My brother Siraj has been martyred,” said Haji Lashkari Raisani, another brother who is also contesting for a National Assembly seat from the province. The blast – which was claimed by the militant group Islamic State – ripped through the corner meeting in Drin- garh village of Mastung district, some 35km away from the provincial capital making it the deadliest in the country since the 2014 carnage at the Army Public School.. “The death toll has risen to 128,” Balochistan Home Minister Agha Umer Bangulzai told The Express Tribune, adding that there were more than 100 wounded.