ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - A roadside bomb blast hit an election campaign convoy killing two people and wounding three on Wednesday in Pakistan's northwestern Swat valley, police said, as security fears deepen ahead of a February 18 general election.
Mufti Hussain Ahmed, an independent candidate contesting aprovincial assembly seat, was among the wounded in the blast inthe restive valley where hundreds of pro-Taliban militants havebeen killed in clashes with troops in recent months.
"Ahmed was going in a convoy of 8-10 vehicles on a campaignwhen the blast occurred, killing two people," said Swat'ssenior police official Waqif Khan.
Violence has intensified in Pakistan in the run-up to anelection that was due to be held on January 8, but was delayeduntil Monday after the assassination of opposition leaderBenazir Bhutto in a gun and bomb suicide attack on December 27.
Nine people, including four journalists, were wounded onTuesday in southwestern Baluchistan in an explosion outside anelection office of another independent candidate.
Two suicide bomb attacks on election rallies in differentparts of northwest Pakistan have killed at least 22 people andwounded more than 30 in the last week alone.
A low turnout is widely expected because of the violence.
The Interior Ministry has asked politicians to avoidunnecessary exposure in the run-up to the vote, keep travelplans unpredictable and avoid big rallies.
An Interior Ministry spokesman said on Tuesday thatsoldiers were being deployed to support police and paramilitaryforces where needed. Musharraf has said troops have orders toshoot anyone trying to disrupt polls.
The government has blamed Baitullah Mehsud, a PakistaniTaliban militant chief with al Qaeda links based on the Afghanborder, for the attack on Bhutto and many others across thecountry.
But Mehsud's spokesman, Maulvi Omar, told Reuters onWednesday the Pakistani Taliban group have decided not toattack next week's general election and that their men wouldnot be involved in any attack before or on election day.
(Writing by Augustine Anthony; editing by Simon Gardner)
