The Taliban’s drive to derail upcoming elections in Pakistan has killed nine more people.  Two bombs went off at political offices in the country’s northwest.

The first was a ten-kilogram bomb planted in Kohat city near the election office of independent candidate Noor Akbar Khan who has been threatened by the Taliban.

"The election office was open at the time and supporters of Noor Akbar Khan were sitting inside. The death toll may rise, the condition of some of the injured is critical," said Tanveer Khan of the Kohat police.

The second bomb killed three people at the office of another independent candidate, Nasir Khan Afridi, also running for a national assembly seat, in the suburbs of Peshawar.

The Pakistani Taliban is targeting independents and political parties seen as pro-military and therefore against the ultra-conservative Islamists.