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ISLAMABAD - ISLAMIST militants blew up a polling station in Pakistan while police arrested a man with a suicide vest on Saturday, raising fresh security fears two days before key elections, officials said.
The polling station was destroyed by a timebomb overnight in Khar, the main town in the troubled northwestern tribal region of Bajaur, bordering Afghanistan, security official Javed Khan said.
Mr Khan blamed the attack on 'terrorists who want to sabotage the process of election'.
Masked gunmen also abducted a paramilitary from the outskirts of the town and took him to an unknown place, security officials said.
Separately police in the southern city of Hyderabad arrested a militant who was allegedly planning a suicide attack during elections, local police chief Imran Shaukat said.
'We have recovered a suicide jacket and some explosives' from the suspect, who is said to have links with militants in North Waziristan tribal region, he said.
The run-up to the elections has been marred by suicide attacks and other violence, which has left scores of people dead - most notably former premier Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated in December. -- AFP
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