Suicide bomber kills 37 in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Feb. 16 (UPI) -- A suicide car bombing at the office of a candidate from the late Benazir Bhutto's party killed 37 people Saturday, two days before Pakistan's general election.

Scores of people were injured by the bombing, which occurred in Parachinar as the candidate was returning from a rally, The Guardian reported. The town is in Pakistan's loosely governed tribal areas near the Afghan border.

The election was postponed after Bhutto, a former prime minister and leader of the People's Party, was assassinated in December. The election season has continued to be violent, with almost 80 deaths in the past week.

Polling stations in Khar, also in the tribal areas, were bombed, The Press Trust of India reported. Three soldiers recently died in a roadside bombing in the area.

Pakistan has deployed nearly 81,000 soldiers through the region with orders to shoot anyone suspected of committing violence on election day, the BBC reported.