ISLAMABAD, 29 April 2007 — An attempt was made by a suicide bomber to assassinate Pakistan’s Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao at Charsadda, a town in northwestern Pakistan, yesterday afternoon. The minister was badly injured and at least 26 people were killed.
Footage broadcast on state television showed the minister walking to his car after the blast, with bloodstains on his face and white tunic. His son, Sikander, was among the scores of people injured.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing, but suspicion fell on militants who have repeatedly targeted top Pakistani officials, including President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, for their support to the US-led war on terror.
The bomber struck soon after Sherpao had finished addressing a public meeting of his faction of the pro-government Pakistan People’s Party, which was attended by hundreds of people in an open field in Charsadda.
Local journalist Faiz Mohammed, who was covering the event, said the attacker got within 15 meters of the minister and detonated the bomb among a crowd that had gathered around Sherpao as he was about to get into his car to leave.
He said the bombing left a carnage of limbs and body parts, and triggered a stampede. “When the dust settled, I saw my clothes were stained with human brain, flesh and blood,” said Mohammed, who suffered a slight leg injury. An intelligence officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said security guards blocked the attacker as he tried to get close to Sherpao, but witnesses did not verify that account.
Mohammed Khan, a police officer, said the minister was shifted to a hospital in Peshawar, which lies about 30 km to the south. He was later discharged and returned to his Peshawar home under tight security.
Asif Iqbal Daudzai, spokesman for the government of North West Frontier Province, said the attack killed 26 people and wounded 35, but Mohammed, the local journalist, estimated about 50 wounded. Khan said at least 10 of the wounded were in critical condition. Most of the victims were local residents, but the dead included two aides and two security guards of Sherpao and two policemen, officials said.
The bombing came a day after an apparent missile strike killed four people in the border region of North Waziristan, considered a stronghold of Taleban and Al-Qaeda militants. The US military and NATO in neighboring Afghanistan denied any involvement. Yesterday’s attack in Charsadda is the latest in a series of bombings that have targeted top officials since Pakistan became a Washington ally against Al-Qaeda in late 2001. In December 2003, Musharraf narrowly escaped injury in two massive bombings 11 days apart in Rawalpindi.
