Witnesses said almost 100 people were present at the

meeting of political parties convened by the Assistant Political Agent of Khyber Agency to discuss a code of conduct for upcoming polls. Militants have stepped up attacks across Pakistan just months ahead of general election. On Saturday, 85 people, most of them Shias, were killed in the southwestern city of Quetta in an attack blamed on Sunni militants. Some reports suggested the militants carried out today's attack to free prisoners being held in a jail within the complex. No group claimed responsibility for the attack though such incidents are usually blamed on the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan. Peshawar and other parts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province have witnessed a sudden surge in violence by the Taliban. Provincial Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti narrowly escaped an attempt on his life by a Taliban suicide bomber last week. The Taliban recently offered peace talks to the federal government but refused to disarm. They have said they will continue their attacks till a peace deal is finalised.