31 martyred in Quetta as bomber targets polling station

 QUETTA: At least 31 people were martyred and dozens more wounded in a suicide attack near a polling station provincial capital of Balochistan, officials said, as people voted in  elections on Wednesday.

"(The bomber) was trying to enter the polling station. When police tried to stop him he blew himself up," a local administration official in Quetta, Hashim Ghilzai, told AFP. The incident and toll were confirmed by a second senior local official. 

The attack was not immediately claimed by any group.

According to Geo News, a police vehicle was an apparent target of the blast outside the polling station.

Geo TV reported that two childern and three policemen were among the dead.

DIG Javed Akbar Riaz said the Bomb Disposal Squad was collecting evidence to ascertain nature of the blast.

He said the blast was an attempt to sabotage election.

A state of emergency has been declared in nearby hospitals where injured have been moved, according to Geo News.

Balochistan was hit by several bombings during the brief but acrimonious election campaign -- including a devastating blast claimed by the Islamic State militant group which killed 153 people this month, and was Pakistan´s deadliest ever suicide attack.

An earlier attack in the province on Wednesday left one policeman dead and three wounded when a hand grenade was thrown at a polling station in the village of Koshk, in Khuzdar district.