Anti-Taliban legislator killed in Pak suicide attack
In a brazen attack, a suicide bomber today killed a Pakistani legislator and injured 20 people when the anti-Taliban politician was receiving guests at his house in Swat valley, the latest in a wave of terror strikes in the country's restive northwest.
The suicide attacker detonated his explosives at the guest house of Shamsher Ali Khan, a senior leader of Awami National Party and member of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) assembly, when he was meeting people to exchange Eid greetings.
Deputy Inspector General of Police (Malakand range) Idrees Khan said the legislator was killed while one of his brothers was critically injured. The injured were taken to hospitals in Saidu Sharief and Mingora, the main city in Swat.
Doctors said four of the injured are in a serious condition.
The attack occurred in Dherai village of Kabal sub-division, located a short distance from the hometown of Maulana Fazlullah, the commander of the Taliban in Swat.
The bomber, who was aged between 20 and 25 years, came to the guest house on foot and blew himself up after getting close to the legislator.
Security forces cordoned off the area as investigators scoured the site for evidence. Footage on television showed shoes and clothes strewn all over the site of the blast.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack.
The suicide attack came after almost a week of calm in NWFP, which has witnessed a series of bombings blamed on the Taliban.
Hundreds of people have died in the attacks that targeted public places, security facilities and the provincial headquarters of the Inter-Services Intelligence agency.
The Taliban had recently asked over 50 political leaders and elders, including members of the Awami National Party which rules the NWFP, to leave the Swat valley.
Most legislators and parliamentarians fled the area in the wake of the threat. Some of them returned to Swat recently after the army evicted the Taliban from most parts of the valley.
Security forces are still conducting anti-militancy operations in the region.
