PARACHINAR, Pakistan - A powerful blast ripped through a meeting of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto's party Saturday in Pakistan's troubled tribal belt, with state television reporting several dead.
"There was an explosion at a Pakistan People's Party meeting outside the party office in Parachinar," a security official told AFP, referring to the main town in the northwestern Kurram tribal district.
"Several people are wounded but we are still getting details," he said.
State television said several people were killed in the blast, with unofficial reports giving an initial death toll of at least 12 people.
One witness said a man in a car drove up to the meeting and the vehicle then exploded but officials would not confirm the account.
Former premier Bhutto was killed by a suicide and gun attack in the garrison city of Rawalpindi on December 27, sparking off mass riots and forcing the postponement of elections by six weeks.
Pakistan has been hit by further suicide bombings and bomb blasts in the run-up to the elections due on Monday. - AFP/ir
