A suicide bomber killed at least eight people and wounded 45 others when he rammed his motorcycle into a bus in Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar on Monday.

A suicide bomber killed at least eight people and wounded 45 others when he rammed his motorcycle into a bus in Pakistan's northwestern city of Peshawar on Monday, police said.

Violence has spiked in the Asian country ahead of national elections on May 11 with at least 56 people killed in attacks targeting politicians and political parties since April 11, according to an Agence France Presse tally.

Monday's suicide bombing targeted a senior official in the city administration, Sahibzada Anees, who passed by shortly before the blast in the Jehangir Abad neighborhood.

"At least eight people were killed and 45 others were wounded in the suicide bombing," police official Mohammad Faisal told AFP.

Hospital officials confirmed the updated death toll.

"The commissioner, who passed just a minute before from the road, was the target of the bombing, but he escaped unhurt as the bomber missed the target and struck his motorcycle into a passenger bus," Faisal said.

Bomb disposal officials said the explosives weighed up to six kilograms.