Child killed in roadside bomb targeting ANP rally in Swabi

Explosion in Swabi targets convoy of ANP PK-32 candidate Amir Rehman.

SWABI: A seven-year-old boy was killed and more than five wounded in an explosion that occurred in an Awami National Party (ANP) rally in Swabi on Sunday.

The remote-controlled bomb exploded as ANP candidate for PK-32 Swabi, Amir Rahman, concluded his address to the rally.

Mukhtiar Khan, an official of Parmoli Police, said that Rahman had left the rally when the blast took place but party workers were still present.

The injured were shifted to hospitals in Swabi. According to an AFP tally, the number of injured people was 16, and the blast took place as Rahman drove past in a convoy of dozens of vehicles after addressing the rally.

Earlier on Sunday, three people were killed and 19 others injured in a bomb blast at an election office in the Maqsoodabad area of Peshawar.

Another bomb attack on Sunday targeting an election candidate’s office in Kohat killed at least five people and wounded 22.

ANP candidates and party workers have been targeted heavily in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.

On Arpil 11, a blast near senior ANP member Arbab Ayub Jan’s car in Peshawar injured one of his guards.

April 16 was the bloodiest day yet on the campaign trail as a bomb blast targeting ANP's senior leader Ghulam Ahmed Bilour in the Yakatot area of Peshawar left at least 20 people killed and dozens injured.

On the following date of April 17, ANP member Farooq Khan’s residence was targeted in a bomb attack in Charsadda, but no casualties or serious injuries were reported.

The Taliban have directly threatened the three main parties in the outgoing government, the Pakistan Peoples Party, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and the ANP, which are often described as secular.