Suicide blast kills ten including Pakistan vote candidate

A suicide bomber killed at least ten people, including an election candidate, and wounded 13 others in Pakistan's tribal region of North Waziristan on Monday, tribal police said.

The attacker rammed a car laden with explosives into the candidate's convoy as it headed to a rally ahead of general elections due in a week's time, police officials said on condition of anonymity.

"Ten people were killed, including election candidate Nisar Ali and an administration official, while 13 others were wounded in the attack on their convoy," one official said.

"The suicide attacker drove his bomb-filled car into the candidate," the official added.

It was not clear which party the candidate was linked to. Candidates must, by law, stand as independents in Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, but are often affiliated to political groupings.

Police said there was no claim of responsibility for the bombing in the village of Aidak, near the major town of Mir Ali, but it has fuelled fears for security of Pakistan's February 18 elections.

A suicide bombing at an election rally held by a small nationalist opposition party in the northwestern town of Charsadda on Saturday killed at least 25 people.

More than 80 people have died in suicide and other attacks this year in a wave of violence following the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto at an election rally on December 27.

Bhutto's killing has been blamed on an Al-Qaeda-linked militant commander based in the tribal region of South Waziristan, which borders the area where Monday's suicide attack took place.