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Punjab home minister, 14 others die in suicide blast

Islamabad - Shuja Khanzada was sitting among his supporters in office when bomber blew himself up.

At least 15 people, including Punjab Home Minister Col. (Retd.) Shuja Khanzada, were killed and over 20 injured in an intense blast at his political office near Attock, about 90km northwest of here, on Sunday.
Federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said it was a suicide attack in which two persons may have been involved.
Shuja Khanzada was sitting among his supporters when the blast took place. He was trapped with several others under the rubble after the blast brought down the roof of the building in the village of Shadi Khan in Attock district.
Nisar said the attackers could not enter the main office but blew themselves up along its wall in a narrow back lane.
Saeed Illahi, adviser to the Punjab chief minister, said there were up to 40 people in the compound when a suicide bomber blew himself up, causing the entire roof slab to fall in one piece, complicating rescue efforts.
An interior ministry helicopter had reached the site to take the wounded to hospital while another helicopter with a civilian rescue team was on its way, Saeed added.
A specially-trained team of army rescuers with modern equipment was working with civilian rescuers and trying to lift and cut sections of the fallen roof to reach the victims.
A police spokeswoman said two police officers were among the eight killed in the attack 70km northwest of Islamabad.
Khanzada, a retired army colonel, had been a member of the Punjab Assembly since 2002 and an active member of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), the party of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
The prime minister, along with President Mamnoon Hussain and army chief General Raheel Sharif condemned the attack and expressed their resolve to fight terrorism. "Such dastardly coward attempts can't dent our national resolve to eliminate the menace," said army spokesman Major General Asim Bajwa in a statement.
"Khanzada Shaheed (martyr) was a bold officer whose sacrifice for the greater cause of cleansing Pakistan won't go to waste."
Col. Shuja was actively involved in the anti-terror national plan and was particularly pursuing in an aggressive manner the members of a banned sectarian outfit. Officials believe the suicide attack might have been carried out by this organisation. The blast came as a rude shock to authorities just while they were claiming that the network of terrorist outfits has been successfully broken.
Army chief Gen. Raheel Sharif described Shuja a brave officer and said his sacrifice would not go waste. PTI chairman Imran Khan said he was deeply aggrieved. Shuja was a committed patriot and among founder members of PTI .
In the past year authorities have cracked down hard on the myriad insurgent groups that have plagued the country for a decade.
The offensive intensified after Taleban gunmen slaughtered more than 130 children at a school in December. Last month the leader of a militant group behind some of worst sectarian atrocities was killed in a shootout with police, along with 13 other militants.
news@khaleejtimes.com (With input from AFP)