Two blasts near election offices of candidates in Pakistan's southwestern province of Balochistan killed nearly 30 people and wounded dozens on February 7, a day before the parliamentary vote is to be held in the South Asian country.
The Islamic State (IS) extremist group claimed responsibility for both bombings.
The first attack happened in Pishin, a district in Balochistan Province near the Afghan border, killing 17 and wounding several others, local security official Naseebullah Kakar told RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal.
The explosion occurred outside the election office of independent candidate and former provincial minister Asfandyar Khan Kakar, officials said, adding that he was not harmed in the blast.
The first attack, which killed 12, took place at the office of an independent election candidate in Pishin district.
The second blast occurred in Qilla Saifullah, near an office of Maulana Abdul Wasi, a candidate of Jamiat Ulema Islam (JUI), a religious party that has previously been the target of militant attacks, Yasir Baz, the head of the local administration, told the media.
At least 12 people were killed and 25 wounded in that attack, officials said.
IS fighters denotated an explosives-rigged motorbike "in the middle of an election gathering" in Qilla Saifullah, the group said in a statement on Telegram shortly after claiming responsibility for the attack in the Pishin district.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the attacks, his spokesman said, adding that they were "clearly related to the elections" scheduled to be held the next day.
"We strongly condemn the horrific attacks, and the bomb explosions that we saw earlier today that killed many, many people and injured many more a day before the elections," Stephane Dujarric said.
Several groups, including the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), a banned Baloch separatist group, the Islamist militant Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and Islamic State (IS) have carried out attacks in recent months in the region.
"The Election Commission has asked the chief secretary and inspector-general of Balochistan for immediate reports and instructed them to take action against those behind the events," a spokesman for the Election Commission said in a statement.
The government in Islamabad, meanwhile, announced that it was closing the borders with Afghanistan and Iran ahead of the elections.
Violence has been on the rise in Pakistan ahead of the elections.
At least 10 police officers were killed when dozens of heavily armed fighters attacked a police station in Daraban, a town in Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, which borders Afghanistan, on February 5.
Late last month, four police officers and two civilians were killed by BLA militants in Balochistan.
