Taliban suicide bomber kills 15 and leaves 45 injured after blowing up car carrying officials at Pakistan political rally Read more: xclusivetalk.blogspot.com

leaves 45 injured after blowing up car carrying officials at Pakistan political rally Taliban suicide bomber kills 15 and

At least 15 people were killed and about 45 wounded when a suicide bomber attacked an election rally for a party opposed to Pakistan's Taliban movement, police said.

The blast struck a gathering called by senior politicians of the Awami National Party (ANP) in the northwestern city of Peshawar ahead of the May 11 general elections.

The attack underscored the threat posed by insurgent violence ahead of the elections, which would mark the first transition in Pakistan between elected civilian governments.                                                                                                              

Suicide bombing: A car burns in Peshawar after the attack on political supporters who oppose Pakistan's Taliban

People work at the blast site to clear the wreckage in the aftermath of the attack on the Awami National Party rally

‘It was a suicide attack,’ senior police official Shafqat Malik said.

A spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, which has threatened to attack the ANP ahead of the vote, claimed responsibility for the blast.

Some of the wounded get treatment - at least 45 people were injured in the attack 

Police said that Ghulam Ahmad Bilour, a veteran politician 

and senior member of the ANP, was among the wounded.

Bilour, a former railways minister, offered a £66,000 reward 

in September for anyone who killed the makers of a film 

which he said was insulting to Islam and which sparked 

protests in many Muslim countries. He invited the Taliban 

and al Qaeda to join him in what he called at the time a 

'blessed mission'.

In a separate attack in volatile northwest Pakistan, at least 

eight security personnel were killed when a suicide bomber 

rammed an explosives-laden car into a military truck 

travelling through North Waziristan, part of Pakistan's tribal 

belt, intelligence officials said.

The officials said at least 12 people were wounded in the 

blast, a reminder of the potent threat posed by insurgents on the border with Afghanistan where militancy is rife.

Bystanders watch as firefighters try to put out a blaze in Peshawar

Read more: xclusivetalk.blogspot.com

Posted in: