Pakistani Taliban target ANP leaders during election campaign

Pakistani Taliban attacked two leaders of an anti-militant political party, killing one and wounding the other in the latest attack targeting secular-leaning party members during their campaigns for next month's parliamentary election.In the first incident, Mukarram Shah was killed in an explosion as he entered his car in the village of Banjot, North-West Pakistan, said Abdullah Khan, police chief of the nearby city of Mingora. The explosives appeared to have been set off by remote control, he added, AP reported.In the second attack, a blast struck the convoy of Masoom Shah, the provincial assembly candidate, as he was returning from a campaign meeting, a police officer said. Zahir Khan added that Shah and three aides suffered wounds from the roadside bomb.Both politicians are from the secular Awami National party, which supported military operations against extremists in the region.The Taliban have warned people in a video message to stay away from rallies held by the three political parties - Pakistan People's Party (PPP), the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and the ANP - which they consider enemies.The three dominated Pakistan's last government, which was dissolved in preparation for the elections. The ANP also headed the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the main province of the North-West, a stronghold of the Taliban.The latest assaults follow three similar attacks since the Taliban issued their threat several weeks ago. Two ANP candidates have survived bomb attacks in the North-West, and a Taliban gunman killed an MQM candidate in the Southern city of Hyderabad.Pakistani Taliban spokesman Ahsanullah Ahsan claimed responsibility for the bomb attacks. "The three parties are on our hit list," he said by telephone from an undisclosed location.Right-leaning and religious parties not being targeted by the Taliban have been holding their election campaign rallies without fear.Also on Sunday, gunmen attacked a NATO supply convoy in the Khyber tribal region, killing a truck driver and wounding another, said a local government administrator, Iqbal Khan. The Khyber Pass is one of the two main routes in Pakistan for NATO supplies headed to neighboring Afghanistan.