Militants blew up the election office of an independent candidate in North Waziristan on Saturday, adding to security fears ahead of historic national polls next month. No one was hurt in the bombing in Miranshah. But the bombing is likely to fuel concerns that violence will mar the national and regional elections on May 11, which will mark the country's first democratic transition of power after a civilian government has served a full term in office.
"Militants blew up the election office of Kamran Khan with explosive at around 5.00 am," an intelligence official in Miranshah told AFP, adding that all three rooms of the office were destroyed. Residents in Miranshah confirmed the bombing and told AFP that an adjacent mosque was also damaged in the blast. Khan is a former legislator from North Waziristan who supported the outgoing government led by the Pakistan People's Party, the official said.
Nobody immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. But umbrella Taliban faction Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan has made death threats against the three main secular parties that made up the outgoing government and who backed army operations against the militants.