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Gunmen kill political candidate in continued pre-election violence

By CNN Staff
April 30, 2013 -- Updated 1120 GMT (1920 HKT)
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • The attack in Balochistan province killed an independent candidate, 3 bodyguards
  • This comes after a bombing targeting a politician killed a bystander Monday
  • Attacks on Sunday targeting other independent politicians killed at least eight people
  • The Taliban took responsibility for Sunday's bombings

(CNN) -- Gunmen killed a political candidate and three other people in Pakistan on Tuesday, adding to a growing casualty toll ahead of the country's elections next month.

In the attack in Balochistan province, men fired on a vehicle carrying Fateh Muhammad Magsi, an independent candidate, said Ghulam Farooq, a police official.

Magsi died along with three of his bodyguards, according to police.

On Monday, a bombing that targeted a politician killed an innocent bystander, police said. In that attack, in the town of Charsadda in northern Pakistan, 12 people were wounded, police said.

2012: History of the Pakistani Taliban

These killings follow attacks on Sunday that targeted other independent candidates. At least eight people were killed in those attacks, which police blamed on the Pakistani Taliban.

In a statement to CNN, the group took responsibility for the bombings at the offices of secular candidates in Peshawar and the Orakzai Agency, a Pakistani tribal area.

Many parties have been hit by the increasing violence ahead of elections.

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