ISLAMABAD:

A suicide bomber struck at a political gathering yesterday in north-western Pakistan, killing at least 25 people and wounding dozens more.

The violence underscored the deep tensions in Pakistan as the nation heads toward the February 18 elections.

The blast occurred inside a hall where more than 200 people had assembled for a political rally in the town of Charsadda, located in North West Frontier province.

The rally was organised by the Awami National Party. The party said the attack was aimed at eliminating political leaders, creating a crisis and delaying the elections.

Attack

Television footage from the blast site, located in the sprawling residence of a party activist, showed the meeting hall littered with bloodstained clothes, shoes, police caps and overturned chairs.

Two policemen were among the dead and several children had been killed or injured.

Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz linked the attack to a wave of other bombings blamed on Al Qaeda and Taliban militants that have claimed more than 70 lives this year.

Meanwhile, the chief of the US military said that Pakistan's atomic weapons were secure despite rising militancy in the nuclear-armed country.

"Certainly the threat is going up. We are both concerned about that" Admiral Mullen said after talks with President Pervez Musharraf and army chief Ashfaq Kayani.

Mullen also ruled out direct US intervention to deal with Al Qaeda and Taliban militants who he said had found safe havens in the country's rugged tribal region. Pakistan rejected a US official's assertion that Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Omar are operating from Pakistani territory