ISLAMABAD — Pakistani police said yesterday they suspected militants based in the tribal areas on the Afghan border were behind a suicide attack that killed up to 27 people at an election rally of the Awami National Party a day earlier, but the party said it was not a suicide attack but a target killing.

Addressing a press conference here yesterday ANP chief Asfandyar Wali Khan said the attack was the result of a plot to kill ANP leaders. He said some forces were out to assassinate political leaders to create chaos in the country.

Asfandyar said he was supposed to attend the meeting but could not go due to some reasons. He said that the government had failed to provide security to the people. The ANP leader demanded that a commission headed by a High Court judge be constituted to probe the attack.

“This attack is carried out by the forces who want to subvert elections,” Zahid Khan, ANP’s top spokesman, said separately.

The lone bomber blew himself up in the midst of an ANP rally in Charsadda town in the North West Frontier Province.

Provincial police chief Sharif Virk told Reuters that the severed head of the bomber had been found, and militants from the nearby Mohmand tribal region could have been responsible.

ANP is a secular, ethnic Pashtun party competing with Musharraf’s allies who were in charge of the central government and religious parties who have held power in NWFP. The attack took place inside a house where ANP leaders were addressing around 200 supporters.

“The bomber appears to be standing in a corner and all of a sudden pushed his way to the middle and blew himself up,” Farman Ali, deputy mayor of Charsadda, said.

Meanwhile, hundreds of mourners wept yesterday as villagers buried victims of the suicide bombing. “The entire village is grieving,” said Tariq Khan, who attended a funeral for three men from Nahqi village who died in the blast. “We do not understand why such a big attack happened.” He said the party had promoted peace in the North West Frontier Province.

Militants Arrested

Police said yesterday they had arrested around 10 suspected militants belonging to Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, in a raid on their hide-out in Lahore. Troops also seized over 20 suspected insurgents, weapons and explosives in Swat valley.

— With input from agencies