Pakistan MP escapes suicide blast

Four people killed in attack on house belonging to member of ruling coalition.

Pakistan map.

‘Bomber shot’

The attack on Khan’s home came as the ANP leader visited a guest in the building during celebrations for the Muslim festival of Eid-al-Fitr, police and party officials said.

Malik Naveed, a provincial police chief, said that the bomber was shot by guards as he attempted to enter Khan’s house.

“The suicide bomber tried to pass from the security scanner avoiding a physical search. Two security guards grabbed him but he tried to get away,” Naveed said.

“Then he was shot and as soon as he fell on the ground he blew himself up … We had made strict security arrangements and that is why the attacker could not cause more damage or casualties.”

One of Khan’s guards was killed in the attack, a senior ANP member told Dawn, a Pakistani television channel.

The ANP has been a member party within Pakistan’s ruling coalition since the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) defeated parties allied to Pervez Musharraf, then president, in elections in January.

Khan is the chairman of the Pakistani parliament’s foreign relations committee.

Source: News Agencies