Suicide Bomber Kills 8 in NW Pakistan

Pakistani police say a suicide bomber killed at least eight people and wounded 45 others in the northwestern city of Peshawar, as violence in Pakistan spikes ahead of the country's elections May 11.

Authorities say Monday's attack was carried out by a man on a motorbike and targeted the convoy of a senior official, who had left the scene just prior to the explosion. The blast damaged a passing police vehicle and passenger bus.

Among the dead is the son of prominent Afghan cleric Qazi Amin Waqad. The cleric is a member of Afghanistan's High Peace Council, which is working to bring the Afghan Taliban to peace talks with the government in Kabul.

Reports say the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for Monday's attack, making it the latest in a wave of political violence that has killed dozens of people since April 11. Most of the attacks have targeted candidates from secular parties opposed to the Taliban.

On Sunday, three Taliban bomb attacks in northwest Pakistan killed at least nine people at political campaign offices.

Two more Taliban bomb blasts Saturday targeted secular parties in Pakistan's largest city of Karachi. At least three people died in those attacks.

The May 11 elections will mark the first time a Pakistani civilian government has served a full term and passed government leadership on to a new civilian administration.