ISLAMABAD — Gunmen attacked an election rally in Pakistan's southern Punjab province Thursday and abducted the son of a former prime minister, intensifying what has already been a violent run-up to Saturday's nationwide elections.
Ali Haider Gilani, the son of ex-premier Yousuf Raza Gilani from the Pakistan People's Party, is running for a provincial assembly seat in the district of Multan.
He was attending an election event in the city of Multan on Thursday, the last day of campaigning across Pakistan, when gunmen pulled up, started shooting, grabbed and threw him into a vehicle and drove off, officials and witnesses said.
A resident of Multan who attended the rally told a local TV station that the attackers first pulled up in a car and motorcycle outside the venue where the younger Gilani was meeting with a few hundred supporters.
When he emerged from the building, two gunmen opened fire, killing at least one of the people in Gilani's entourage.
"One of the gunmen grabbed Haider who had blood splashed on his trousers," said Shehryar Ali in comments aired by Pakistani television broadcaster Geo News.
The former prime minister was not at the event when his son was taken.
It was not immediately known who abducted Gilani or why.