At least 44 people were killed on Friday in two attacks targeting political rallies in Pakistan ahead of elections later this month, according to authorities
GEO TV quoted officials as saying 40 people were killed and 50 others injured in a suicide attack on a rally for Siraj Raisani, a candidate from the Baluchistan Awami Party, in restive Baluchistan Province, in the country's southwest.
Raisani, who was running for a seat in the provincial legislature in the July 25 elections, was critically injured and rushed to a hospital in the provincial capital Quetta, where he succumbed to his injuries.
Earlier in the day, at least four people were killed and 16 injured in a bomb attack on a campaign motorcade of a political party in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province in northwestern Pakistan, hospital and administration officials said.
The motorcade of the religious party Jamiat Ulema Islam (F) was heading to a meeting in the semi-autonomous Bannu district when the blast happened in the morning.
On Tuesday, a rally of the Awami National Party was hit by a suicide bomb attack in which 20 people were killed.
The attacks came as authorities braced for the return and expected arrest of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on a corruption conviction.
Sharif and his daughter Maryam were expected to be taken into custody when they arrived in Lahore on a flight from London via Abu Dhabi late Friday. His party appealed to supporters to head to Lahore and gather at the city's Allama Iqbal Airport to receive Sharif.
Sharif and Maryam were earlier this month sentenced to 10 years and seven years in prison, respectively, over the purchase of upscale London flats. The National Accountability Bureau has ordered for them to be arrested and flown to Islamabad to be imprisoned at the Rawalpindi Central Jail.
All roads leading to the airport and entry points into Lahore from adjoining areas were barricaded to prevent a large turnout of PML (N) supporters at the airport. Police made 140 arrests as part of an effort to keep Sharif supporters from inciting trouble.
In a directive to all satellite television channels, the National Electronic Regulatory Authority barred them from airing interviews granted by Sharif to reporters in London and Abu Dhabi as well as paid advertisements eulogising the tumultuous five years of Sharif's government.
Internet and mobile phone service in Lahore were also suspended Friday at the explicit request of the Punjab government.
The Supreme Court last year disqualified Sharif from holding public office for being corrupt and dishonest about his wealthy family's overseas assets as revealed by the leaked Panama Papers.
