CHARSADDA: A man was killed and around 12 others injured in a blast targeting an Awami National Party’s (ANP) election office in Sardehri area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Charsadda District on Monday night.

The local leadership of the ANP said that apparently the blast was a suicide bombing as the suspicious man was gunned down when he tried to reach the target. The police however confirmed that it was a remote controlled bomb, planted on a bicycle and the person who had died in the blast was a passersby.

The ANP’s PK-17 candidate Muhammad Ahmed Khan’s election office near Sardehri Bazaar was the apparent target of the attacker who could not reach there, said a local police officer.

“The blast was carried out with a remote controlled device and was planted on a bicycle,” SHO Sardehri Police Station, Gohar Ali told Dawn.com.

He also confirmed that one person has died, who is believed to be a passersby while 12 others have been injured in the blast. Gohar Ali added that around three kilograms of explosives was used to carry out the bombing.

The injured were shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital, Peshawar and two critically injured were dispatched to Peshawar’s Lady Reading Hospital.

No group has so far claimed responsibility of the attack. However, the Pakistani Taliban have recently stepped up its targeted attacks against the parties raising concerns about the impact of such incidents on the upcoming elections.

Three secular political parties of Pakistan – Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and ANP – have vowed to fight terror and brave targeted attacks by the banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militant organisation while contesting the coming elections.

The May 11 polls will witness the first democratic transition of power in a country whose democratic history is plagued with the military’s interventions.