2 killed, 14 injured in firing during vote recount in Pakistan's Hub city

Karachi: At least two persons were killed and 14 others injured in an armed clash between the supporters of two political parties during a vote recount in a constituency in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province, police said on Thursday.

Supporters of the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) clashed outside the office of the returning officer in the industrial town of Hub, bordering Karachi.

In the elections on February 8, BAP’s Muhammad Saleh Bhootani had claimed victory after unofficial results were announced but the PPP’s Ali Hassan Zehri sought a recount of votes to overturn the result.

As a result, the Election Commission of Pakistan ordered a recount of votes.

“The clash took place when the recounting was taking place on Wednesday with votes of 39 polling stations being recounted, and fights broke out between supporters of both candidates,” SSP Hub Manzoor Ahmed Buledi told reporters.

Gunshots were fired, leaving two dead and 14 injured.

The PPP supporters claimed this was a ploy to delay the announcement of the results.

A doctor at the Jam Ghulam Qadir Memorial Hospital said the injured people and two dead persons received multiple bullet injuries.

Buledi said the Frontier Corps were called in to control the situation.

There has been unrest in the province of Balochistan since a day after the general elections were held last week, with at least four political parties blocking main highways and enforcing a shutter-down strike in Quetta and other parts of the province against alleged rigging in the polls.