Suicide bomber kills 14 at Pakistan election rally

A suicide bomber struck today at an election rally in north-western Pakistan, killing at least 14 people and wounding more than 20, officials said.

The blast happened at a rally of the Awami National Party – a secular, ethnic Pashtun group – in the town of Charsadda in the turbulent North West Frontier province, where Islamic extremists operate.

Interior Ministry spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema put the death toll at 14 with more than 20 injured.

“I think it was a suicide attack and very close to the stage (of the meeting),” Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz said, adding that all party leaders were safe.

Afrasiab Khattak, the party’s provincial leader and a prominent human rights champion, was addressing the rally but told Dawn television that he was not hurt.

Nawaz said Islamic militants were threatening all the political parties in the northwest ahead of the February 18 parliamentary elections.

“They are against everyone,” he told Dawn News TV.