Pakistan reels as 133 killed in two separate strikes on rallies Imran confident of becoming premier

Military warns of terror attacks in runup to election, to deploy 371,000 soldiers on polling day

the secular Balochistan Muttahida Mahaz (BMM), formed by Ghous Bakhsh Raisani in the 1970s, till June.

The attack in Mastung came hours after five people were killed and 39 more injured when a bomb hidden in a motorcycle went off near a rally by Muttahida Majlis-e-amal (MMA) candidate Akram Khan Durrani at Bannu in northwestern Khyberpaktunkhwa province.

Durrani survived the attack, police said, and no group claimed responsibility. Durrani, a former chief minister who is contesting against Pakistan Tehreek-e-insaaf chief Imran Khan, said he would continue his campaign.

Durrani said this was the second attack targeting him. “We are intimated that there are threats but we remain unaware about the forces that have threatened us. There were media reports that I am unsafe, I would like to ask media if they know about the threats, then please reveal the identity of those behind the threats,” he said.

Condemning the attack on Durrani, caretaker interior minister Azam Khan said the interim government will not allow the polls to be sabotaged. “Extremist elements are trying to disrupt the election process. We will not be deterred by militants,” he said.

On Tuesday, a suicide bombing claimed by the Pakistani Taliban targeted a rally by the Awami National Party in Peshawar city. ANP leader Haroon Bilour was among the 22 killed. LAHORE: Pakistani cricket legend Imran Khan said he was “quietly confident” of victory in a general election this month and that as prime minister, he would drive an anti-corruption and anti-poverty campaign in the nation.

The 65-year-old opposition leader also dismissed allegations that the powerful military was working behind the scenes to favour his campaign for the poll.

Khan is campaigning hard on populist promises of a prosperous Pakistan that breaks away from its persistent legacy of corruption, even as he expands appeals to nationalist and religious sentiment in the nation.

As prime minister, he says he will partially model his anti-corruption campaign and poverty reduction programmes on China, Pakistan’s traditional ally that has financed billions of dollars of infrastructure projects.

“What Pakistan has to do is follow China’s example where they

lift people out of poverty,” Khan said in the interview in a private jet after a night of campaigning in Punjab province. “And actually we have meetings with the Chinese on all the steps they took to reduce poverty.”

A victory for Khan’s opposition party would mark a new political direction for Pakistan, which has been dominated by two parties - PML-N and the Pakistan People’s Party.

More than 20 years after Khan founded the Pakistan Tehreek-einsaf, the man still revered by many as captain of Pakistan’s 1992 World Cup-winning cricket team, feels the stars have finally aligned for him.

In recent years, he has mostly shed the playboy image of his younger days, marrying his spiritual adviser and making public shows of devotion to Islam.

Khan’s party has pulled ahead of others in one opinion poll and he said of his chances in the election: “I’m quietly confident that this time we’ll do it. I am hopeful, I am confident, but still, the match is not over until the last ball is bowled.”

Public is demanding accountability of corrupt leaders of political parties... Each time there is an attempt to hold them accountable, they all get together and start saying its antidemocratic IMRAN KHAN, Pakistan Tehreek-e-insaf chairman