World | Pakistan
Suicide attack heightens fears ahead of polls
The lone bomber blew himself up in the midst of a rally of the opposition Awami National Party (ANP) in Charsadda town in the North West Frontier Province.
- Reuters
- Published: 21:28 February 10, 2008
Islamabad: Police said yesterday they suspected militants based in the tribal areas on the Afghan border were behind a suicide attack that killed more than 20 people at an election rally in the northwest a day earlier.
The lone bomber blew himself up in the midst of a rally of the opposition Awami National Party (ANP) in Charsadda town in the North West Frontier Province.
Provincial police chief Sharif Virk said the severed head of the bomber had been found, and militants from the nearby Mohmand tribal region could have been responsible.
Pakistan votes for a new National Assembly and four provincial assemblies on February 18, and, while it is not a presidential election, President Pervez Musharraf's future could be at stake if the polls result in a hostile parliament.
A party spokesman said ANP believed the attack was part of a plot to spoil or delay elections that the parties in power were likely to lose.
"This attack is carried out by the forces who want to subvert elections," Zahid Khan, ANP's top spokesman, said.
The attack took place inside a house where ANP leaders were addressing around 200 supporters.
"The bomber appeared to be standing in a corner and all of a sudden pushed his way to the middle and blew himself up," Farman Ali, deputy mayor of Charsadda, said.
Bombing death toll hits 25
The death toll climbed to 25 from a suicide bombing at a weekend election rally in northwest Pakistan, officials said yesterday, a little over a week before key nationwide elections.
The bomber struck as hundreds of people gathered for a meeting of the Awami National Party, a small, nationalist ethnic Pashtun party, in the town of Charsadda.
Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz linked the attack to a wave of other bombings blamed on Al Qaida and Taliban militants that have claimed more than 70 lives this year.
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