Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

Bomber kills 7 in Pakistan's northwest

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Islamabad, July 27, IRNA -- A bomber, targeting a provincial minister, killed 3 policemen and 5 civilians in Pakistan’s northwest Monday, doctors and police said.

Information Minister of Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa Province, Mian Iftikhar Hussain, escaped unhurt in the attack near Peshawar, the provincial capital, police chief Liaquat Ali Khan said.

Dr. Tariq at the main Lady Reading Hospital confirmed that seven people died and 25 people were injured.

The bomber tried to enter the residence of Hussain but a police guard stopped him and the bomber exploded his bomb. Hussain was receiving condolences over the death of his son who was killed by Taliban on Saturday.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack. But senior provincial minister Bashir Bilour blamed the Taliban for the attack.

Sources said that Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani and some other senior officials were scheduled to visit Hussain's residence for condolences.

The explosion was so powerful that three nearby shops were completely destroyed.

According to eyewitnesses the suicide bomber was in his 20s. Some reports said that three suicide bombers have entered in Pabbi area and one of them detonated his explosives.

Hussain, an outspoken minister against the militants had been receiving threats from Taliban, sources said.

Last month, he warned that the Taliban militants are regrouping outside Peshawar.