'Islamabad judge was killed by own guard during court attack'

Additional Sessions Judge Rafaqat Ahmed Khan Awan, who was among 10 people killed in a rare gun and bomb attack on a court premises here, was accidentally killed by his own guard and not by terrorists, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said today.

Winding up a debate in the National Assembly on the National Internal Security Policy, Kahn said when the terrorists started shooting within the premises of the district court, Awan and his staff shut themselves inside the retiring room.

The minister said the guard had a pistol in his hand and when an explosion was heard outside, he inadvertently fired three shots hitting the judge.

He said the guard has confessed and the medical report also shows that bullets were that of pistol and not of a Kalashnikov.

Noting that there are threats, Khan said: "our weaknesses are not as strong as have been highlighted by the opposition."

A total of 11 people were killed when suicide attackers stormed the court complex and opened fire on Monday. At least 25 people were injured in the attack in F-8 area of the capital where a large number of expatriates stay.