A suicide bomber killed a senior provincial minister and seven other people at a meeting in northwest Pakistan yesterday, officials said, in an attack claimed by the Taleban.
The bomber struck when around 100 people including the provincial leadership of the ANP had gathered at a meeting in Peshawar. The blast killed Bashir Bilour, 69, the number two to the chief minister of the province, which is on the front line of Pakistan’s fight against homegrown militancy and is frequently hit by gun and bomb attacks.
The Tehreek-e-Taleban Pakistan said they targeted Bilour in revenge for the death of one of their elders. “We claim responsibility for killing Bashir Ahmed Bilour. It is revenge for the martyrdom of our elder Sheikh Naseeb Khan,” TTP spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan told AFP.
Pakistan minister slain
Pakistan minister slain
