It was unclear if the bomber specifically targeted the
supporters of politician Maulana Fazlur Rehman or if they just happened to be
there when he hit the checkpoint.
Rehman has been an outspoken supporter of the Afghan
Taleban, but some militants in Pakistan have shown a willingness to attack
anyone connected to the government.
The bomber detonated his explosives just outside the
checkpoint when a policeman told him to halt, said Saeed Khan, a police
official at the main communications center in Peshawar city. The blast killed
the policeman and 12 other civilians nearby, said Khan. Another 12 people were
wounded.
The attack occurred in Swabi town, located some 70 km
outside the capital Islamabad. Rehman, the leader of the Jamiat Ulema Islam
party, passed through the checkpoint only minutes before the bomber struck and
was unharmed, said Khan. Rehman was traveling to Charsadda town to address a
public gathering.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing.
An attack targeting Rehman or his supporters would be unusual — but not unheard
of — because of their hard-line views.
The most prominent militant sympathizer reportedly killed by
insurgents was former Pakistani spy Sultan Amir Tarar — better known as Col.
Imam — who helped the Taleban rise to power in Afghanistan in the 1990s.
The Pakistani Taleban said in February that they shot and
killed Tarar after holding him captive for 10 months in northwest Pakistan
because the government failed to meet their demands. The Pakistani Taleban has
links to its Afghan brethren but is focused on fighting the Pakistani state.
The Pakistani government disputed the Taleban's claims,
saying Tarar died of a heart attack in January while in captivity.
About a year ago, a suicide bomber attacked a rally being
held by the Jamat-e-Islami party, another Islamist group that is sympathetic to
many of the goals of the Taleban and regularly criticizes army operations
against them. The attack killed more than 20 police and civilians. Police
speculated the target may have been officers watching over the rally.
