Roadside Bomb Kills Pakistani Party Official

The blast is the latest in a series of violent incidents ahead of parliamentary elections to be held on May 11.

A local political leader has been killed by a roadside bomb in Pakistan's northwestern Swat Valley.

The blast on April 14 was the latest in a series of violent incidents ahead of parliamentary elections to be held on May 11.

Police said Mukarram Shah was killed when a bomb, apparently detonated by remote control, exploded near his car near the town of Mingora.

Pakistani media said the Pakistani Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the attack.

His son told RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal that Mukarram Shah was a member of a local Peace Committee and had received numerous death threats in the past.

He had an electoral alliance with the Awami National Party (ANP), one of three secular-leaning political parties that the Pakistani Taliban have threatened to attack during the election campaign.

Those three parties dominated Pakistan's last government, dissolved ahead of the election.

The ANP also headed the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, in which Swat is located.

Based on reporting by AP, AFP, and RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal