Story highlights
Ali Haider Gilani kidnapped in deadly attack in Punjab province, brother says
Two people killed, eight others hurt during attack, brother says
Police: Gilani, candidate for Punjab provincial assembly, was on way to public meeting
Gilani is son of former Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani
A son of a former Pakistani prime minister was kidnapped Thursday in a deadly raid two days before the son was to stand for provincial assembly elections, one of his brothers told CNN
The kidnapping of Ali Haider Gilani is the latest in a string of attacks that have plagued the run-up to Pakistan’s national elections scheduled for Saturday.
Two gunmen in a vehicle killed two people and injured eight others as they kidnapped Gilani in Punjab province, his brother Ali Qasim Gilani told CNN.
Ali Haider Gilani – son of former Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani – was on his way to address a public meeting in the city of Multan when the attack happened, police senior superintendent Khurram Shakur told local TV reporters.
The younger Gilani has been running for a seat in the Punjab provincial assembly.
Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso called the elder Gilani on Thursday to assure him that all necessary steps would be taken to recover the son, Khoso’s office said.
Saturday’s nationwide elections are to be Pakistan’s first democratic transition of power, as the governing Pakistan People’s Party is poised to become the first civilian government to complete a full five-year term.
But campaigns have been plagued by deadly violence in recent weeks, and the Pakistani Taliban has claimed responsibility for several hits on candidates’ campaigns.
At least 16 people died Tuesday in two attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province; one attack targeted a PPP rally, and the other targeted a candidate for the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazal Ur Rehman group, police said.
And on Monday, an explosion killed 18 people at a rally for Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazal Ur Rehman, a right-wing religious party with sympathies for the militant Taliban movement. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for that blast, saying it attacked because one of the candidates, Munir Orakzai, has handed over members of the Mujahedeen to the United States.
Yousuf Raza Gilani was prime minister from 2008 to 2012.
CNN’s Tim Schwarz, Jason Hanna and Aliza Kassim contributed to this report.
