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Blast at MP's house kills 12
06/10/2008 17:31 - (SA)
Multan - A suicide bomber killed 12 people and wounded a Pakistani opposition politician on Monday in the latest attack to underscore the threat posed by Taliban and al-Qaeda militants.
The attacker blew himself up in a crowd of people at the house of Rashid Akbar Nowani, an MP from the party of former premier Nawaz Sharif, in the town of Bhakkar in Punjab province, police and hospital officials said.
Pakistan's new civilian government is fighting a wave of Islamist violence blamed on militants in the tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, and is also under intense US pressure to crack down on the extremists. Head of bomber found
"It was a suicide attack, the head of the bomber has been recovered. At least 12 people were killed in the explosion," senior police officer Khadim Hussain told AFP.
"The bomber walked up to the MP's house and detonated himself in the midst of a crowd of party workers, supporters and relatives," Hussain said.
The MP was among at least 53 injured people brought to the local hospital, some of them in serious condition, Dr Chaudhry Ahsan-ul-haq said.
"Nowani was injured in his legs, but he appears out of danger," the doctor said. "It is a crisis situation here."
The attacks have piled pressure on President Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of slain ex-prime minister Benazir Bhutto, to combat the growing threat posed by militants.
- AFP
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