(MENAFN- Arab Times) Eight people were killed after local elections in northwest Pakistan when supporters of a losing candidate threw hand grenades at celebrations staged by the winner, officials said Monday. The incident, which left another 10 people wounded, happened Sunday in Tank district 250 kilometres (160 miles) south of Peshawar, the capital of Khyber- Pakhtunkhwa province. "Supporters of Wali Khan, the winning candidate in the local elections, were celebrating his victory by dancing to drums and aerial firing, which infuriated supporters of the losing candidate," senior administration official Kifayat Ullah told AFP. "The loser's supporters threw hand grenades at the celebration, killing seven people on the spot. One died later in hospital." A local police official confirmed the incident and toll, saying the scene of revelry turned into one of blood-soaked horror. Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa held its first elections to local bodies in 10 years on Saturday.
According to provincial election commission data, as many as 84,420 candidates contested 41,762 seats. Meanwhile, a roadside bomb on Monday killed a local government official and two others in one of Pakistan's restive tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, officials said. The bomb, detonated remotely, hit the vehicle of official Farooq Wazir in Raghzai area of troubled South Waziristan district, a senior security official told AFP. Wazir and two others were killed on the spot, the official said. Local intelligence officials confirmed the blast and casualties. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif "strongly condemned" the blast and "deplored the loss of life and extended condolences to the bereaved families," a government statement said. Pakistan has been battling a homegrown Islamist insurgency for over a decade following the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan.
The Pakistan army began a major campaign against Taleban and other militant strongholds in the neighbouring North Waziristan tribal area in June last year and authorities have now vowed to intensify operations in other border regions and across the country. Elsewhere in South Waziristan Taleban militants killed two local tribesmen and dumped their bodies in a marketplace, accusing them of spying for the United States.
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