ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – A suicide bomber blasted a political gathering yesterday in northwestern Pakistan, killing at least 25 people, wounding dozens and stoking fears about security surrounding this month's parliamentary election.
In the south, an estimated 100,000 supporters of Benazir Bhutto turned out for her party's first major election rally since her assassination Dec. 27. Bhutto's husband, Asif Ali Zardari, told the crowd he had a responsibility to save the nation from President Pervez Musharraf's rule.
Also yesterday, riot police in the capital, Islamabad, fired water cannons and tear gas at hundreds of lawyers protesting the detention of the deposed chief justice.
The violence underscored the deep tensions in Pakistan as the nation heads toward the Feb. 18 election, which is meant to restore democracy after eight years of military rule. But campaigning has been overshadowed by Bhutto's killing, which U.S. and Pakistani officials blame on Islamic militants.
Yesterday's blast occurred inside a hall where about 200 people had assembled for a political rally in the town of Charsadda in turbulent North West Frontier province, where Islamic extremists have been battling government forces.
The rally was organized by the Awami National Party, a secular organization that competes against Islamist parties for support among the ethnic Pashtun community.
Abdul Waheed, 22, who suffered burns from the blast, said the bomber struck as a member of the party was reciting verses from Islam's holy book, the Koran.
“I only heard the blast and cries, and then something hit me and I fell down,” Waheed told The Associated Press from his hospital bed in nearby Peshawar.
Television footage from the blast site, located in the sprawling residence of a party activist, showed the meeting hall littered with bloodstained clothes, police caps and overturned chairs. Policeman Mohammed Khan said two policemen were among the dead, and several children had been killed or wounded.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but suspicion fell on Islamic militants with ties to the Taliban and al-Qaeda. Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz said the militants are threatening all political parties in the northwest.
