ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Religious Affairs Minister Hamid Saeed Kazmi narrowly escaped an assassination attempt by unidentified gunmen in the capital on Wednesday. Kazmi’s driver was killed in the brazen attack near his office in the city’s busy Melody Market area, police and hospital sources said.

Kazmi was traveling in his official car when he was attacked by gunmen riding a motorbike, local police official Mansha Hussain said.

Local television news channels showed images of Kazmi with what appeared to be a leg wound.

Doctors at Islamabad’s Federal Government Services Hospital said Kazmi was hurt in his shin and that his injuries were not critical.

“A bullet has caused a compound fracture in the lower leg of the federal minister,” hospital chief Shaukat Hameed Kiani said. “His condition is stable but he is in a state of shock,” he said.

Another doctor in the hospital, Shazia Nazir, said Kazmi’s driver was brought in dead with a bullet wound in his forehead and that the minister’s guard was seriously injured.

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani immediately ordered an inquiry into the attack on Kazmi in the country’s heavily guarded capital city.

Islamabad police chief Tahir Alam said that according to preliminary information, two men riding a motorcycle opened fire on the minister’s car before fleeing.

Police were investigating and collecting evidence from the site, Alam said.

Kashif Bajwa, 26, a pedestrian, said he heard firing near Melody Market during the busy afternoon.

“I saw the minister’s car had plowed into a tree about 150 meters from his office. His guard was on the front seat, he was wounded. The minister’s driver had a bullet in his head... I understood he is dead. The minister was also wounded,” Bajwa said.

“Later I saw about a dozen policemen came in a pickup truck, they all appeared scared,” he said.

Another police vehicle arrived later and the minister was taken to a nearby hospital, he said.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. Alam said he suspected the Taleban carried out the attack.

“The minister was one of the key personalities condemning the Taleban and their terror acts. It is possible that he could be their target,” he said.

“We have collected some evidence and we are investigating,” he added.

Kazmi, an Islamic scholar, belongs to a moderate religious family from central Multan city. His elder brother, Mazhar Saeed Kazmi, blamed the attack on security failure. “Today’s incident shows security failure,” he said, vowing that the struggle against terrorism would continue.

“We have been receiving threats because we are against terrorism, we are against Taleban, we are against (Pakistani Taleban chief) Baitullah Mehsud, we are against suicide attacks,” said Mazhar Kazmi.

Interior Secretary Kamal Shah said the minister had been provided with security after threats were made against him. “We are investigating if there was any lapse, it takes time to investigate,” Shah said.

The attack came as a wave of terror attacks gripped Pakistan. It is also the first terrorist strike in Islamabad since Mehsud was killed in a US drone attack in northwestern tribal on Aug. 5.

More than 2,000 people have been killed in bomb blasts and suicide attacks in the country during the past two years.

— With input from agencies