IS massacre rattles Pak confidence ahead of polls

Pakistan was in shock yesterday after a suicide blast killed 128 people, shaking confidence in security just as the dramatic arrest of ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif ratcheted political tensions higher ahead of nationwide polls.

Sharif's highly-anticipated return from London and subsequent arrest for corruption was overshadowed as the carnage in Mastung, in the southwestern province of Balochistan, unfolded late Friday.

Newspapers branded the blast -- one of the deadliest in Pakistan's history -- a "massacre", as analysts and media called on the military to, in the words of the daily Dawn, "do the job they are meant to do -- ie preventing attacks".

Sharif has claimed he is the victim of a military conspiracy, and there are widespread allegations from the media, politicians and analysts that the powerful security establishment is meddling in the polls.

"It has never been more true that Pakistan's security establishment needs to focus on security, not politics," tweeted analyst Mosharraf Zaidi as mourners gathered to bury their dead in Mastung yesterday. More funerals were planned for the afternoon.

Hospitals in the area have been placed under "emergency" management after being overwhelmed in the hours after the attack, with around 150 also wounded in the blast -- many still in critical condition.

The provincial home secretary Haider Shako added that extra security forces had been deployed in "sensitive areas" and warned politicians to remain "vigilant".

A caretaker government has been installed ahead of the July 25 election, and prime minister Nasirul Mulk declared today would be a day of mourning.

The attack was by far the deadliest of a series of blasts at various campaign events this week that have killed at least 154 people, including two local politicians, and underscored ongoing security challenges following years of optimism over improvements.

Security analyst Rahimullah Yusufzai termed the blasts a "wave of terror" that indicated coordination between militant groups, and noted that security forces could not protect every single campaign event.

But "they have been sidetracked," he added of the military, and "criticised for taking sides and focusing on politics".

He predicted the bloodshed would continue "until the election and even after".

Violence has dropped significantly since the country's deadliest-ever militant attack, an assault on a school in the northwestern city of Peshawar in 2014 that left more than 150 people dead, mostly children.

The military intensified operations against militants in the tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan in the wake of that attack, and security has improved dramatically.