KOHAT/PESHAWAR/SWABI: At least nine people were killed and 56 injured when bombs ripped through election offices of three candidates in Kohat and Peshawar and the convoy of a candidate came under attack in Swabi on Sunday.

According to AP, Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan’s spokesman Ihsanullah Ihsan claimed responsibility for the attacks in Kohat and Peshawar.

“We are against all politicians who are going to become part of any secular, democratic government,” he said.

Police said five people were killed and 23 injured after a time bomb went off near election offices of ANP candidate Khursheed Begum and independent Noor Akbar Khan in the Kacha Pakha area of Kohat.

Initially, it was termed a suicide attack on the office of Akbar Khan, who is contesting for the NA-39 seat in Orakzai Agency, but later the bomb disposal squad said a time bomb of 10kg explosives had been used to target the independent candidate.

The blast also damaged the election office of ANP candidate for NA-14 Begum Khurshid.

SHO of the Ustarzai police station Mujtaba Khan told Dawn that the explosives appeared to have been planted in a shop located between offices of Akbar Khan and Khursheed Begum. The owner of the shop was killed in the blast which damaged six other shops and six vehicles.

Mr Khan said it was not clear who was the target but neither of the candidates was there at the time of the blast.

Ambulances reached after about half an hour and local people took the injured to a hospital in Kohat. Four of them who were in a serious condition were sent to Peshawar.

Police said two of the dead were beggars and another two belonged to Orakzai Agency. The identity of the fifth could not be ascertained.

The Ustarzai police have registered a case against terrorists under Sections, 302, 327, 427 of the Pakistan Penal Code, Section 7 of the Anti-terrorism Act and Section 5 of the Explosive Substance Act.

Another bomb exploded on Sunday outside the office of another independent candidate, Nasir Khan Afridi, in Maqsoodabad near Charsadda. Three people were killed and 20, including children, were injured.

Former senator Afridi is running for a National Assembly seat in Khyber Agency.

An officer of Khazana police station told Dawn that the bomb had been attached to a bicycle parked near the election office of Mr Afridi. The office was set up in a shop near a market.

A few days ago an explosion had taken place outside the residence of Mr Afridi in Hayatabad Township but there was no casualty.

In Swabi, a teenager was killed and 13 people suffered injuries when suspected Taliban attacked an election convoy of an ANP candidate with a bomb detonated by remote control.

ANP leaders said that former MPA Ameer Rehman and other leaders of the party were returning after addressing an election rally in Rafiqabad. Mr Rehman is contesting for the PK-32 Swabi-II seat and his father, former MNA Rehmanullah, for PK-12 Swabi-I.

When contacted, Superintendent of Police Dr Mian Mohammad Saeed said the explosion missed Mr Rehman’s car. A police van escorting him came under fire. He said Mr Rehman was the target of the attack.

Local people took the injured to nearby Seena and Shahmansoor hospitals.

Four of the injured were sent to the district headquarters hospital in Mardan.

The deceased teenager was identified as Zain Mohammad who hailed from Aziz Dheri.

No-one has claimed responsibility for the attack but police said the attack appeared to have been carried out by militants.

Meanwhile, ANP leaders said that Akhtar Muneer, a brother of Mohammad Islam, their candidate in PK-35, Swabi-V, who had been injured in an attack on Saturday night, died at the Lady Reading Hospital on Sunday.

[The report is based on contributions made by Abdul Sami Paracha, Waseem Ahmed Shah and Muqaddam Khan]