This is Pak

Minister assasinated at home

Pakistan's Punjab province Home Minister Shuja Khanzada was assassinated by a suicide bomber who blew himself up at his ancestral home in Attock district, killing at least 13 people in the brazen attack.

Khanzada, 71, and a DSP were among the 13 people killed when the suicide bomber attacked his political office in his native Shadi Khan village, Punjab Emergency Department spokesperson Deeba Shahnaz said. At least 17 people were also injured in the blast. The condition of three injured persons is stated to be critical. The suicide bomber entered the building disguised as a visitor and blew himself up. As a result of the blast, roof of the house caved in burying the minister and about thirty other people.

Saeed Elahi, advisor to Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, confirmed the death of the Home Minister in the suicide bombing. "Punjab Home Minister has died in the suicide bombing," Elahi said. Khanzada's body has been shifted to District Headquarters Hospital Attock. "Some 40 to 50 people were present at the dera (out house) of Col Shuja when a suicide bomber managed to enter there and blew himself up," Commissioner Rawalpindi Zahid Saeed said.

Khanzada, a retired colonel, was holding a jirga (reconciliatory meeting with his area people) at his house, some 100 km from capital city of Islamabad, when the bomber managed to enter and blew himself up. Saeed said Deputy Superintendent of Police Shaukat Shah was also among those who died in the blast. Rescue work was on to retrieve the people trapped under the rubble of the roof which collapsed due to the bombing. The banned outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) has claimed responsibility for the suicide attack on Khanzada, sources in the interior ministry were quoted as saying by Dawn News. They alleged Khanzada was under threat following the killing of LeJ chief Malik Ishaq in July. The intelligence reports say that there are at least 150 sleeper cells of LeJ in south Punjab. Khanzada had also received threats from Al-Qaeda and Tahreek-i-Taliban Pakistan. "The hall of the building where the meeting was underway collapsed in the blast and over threedozen people including the minister were trapped in the rubble," Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah told reporters.

Taliban attacks Pak Air force base, 42 killed

Peshawar: At least 42 people, including 13 militants and 23 air force personnel, were killed when heavily armed Taliban terrorists in military uniforms launched a brazen attack on a Pakistan Air Force base and a mosque inside the compound, in one of the deadliest assaults on a defense facility. A group of gunmen wearing explosives-laden jackets and armed with grenades, mortars, AK-47 rifles attacked a guard post as they tried to fight their way into the Badaber air base 6 kilometres outside Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

At least 16 people offering prayers at a mosque inside the air force camp were shot dead by the militants, military spokesman Major General Asim Bajwa said. Addressing a press conference he said that seven other people were killed in the ablution area of the mosque. An army captain was also among 29 people killed in the attack on the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) base and a mosque inside it, Geo TV reported.

Two junior PAF technicians were also killed in the attack, a PAF spokesperson said, adding that both airmen were deployed at the guardroom when the attack occurred. All 13 terrorists were killed by security forces, Bajwa said adding that several of those killed were offering prayers at the mosque. He said that the terrorists were dressed in constabulary uniforms.

Terrorists entered the base at two points, splitting into sub-groups, sparking a fierce gunbattle with security forces, he said.At least 22 people, including eight soldiers and two senior army officers, were injured in the attack. The injured have been shifted to a military hospital in Peshawar and two have been taken to Lady Reading Hospital (LRH). An emergency has been declared in both hospitals.Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack. “Our suicidal unit carried out the attack,” TTP spokesman Muhammad Khurasani said in an email statement. Khurasani claimed that 80 security personnel were surrounded by the militants and 50 of them killed but it was not confirmed. He also claimed that women and children were given safe exit which was also not confirmed.Bajwa said security forces reached the area shortly after and sealed it off but a gun battle is still underway. “Clearance ops still underway. Searching for hidden terrorists,” Bajwa tweeted.Eyewitnesses claim they saw terrorists dressed in black militia uniforms and wearing white shoes. Nearby residents said explosions and gunfire could still be heard hours after the attack took place. Corps Commander Lieutenant General Hidayatur Rehman conducted aerial surveillance of the base from a helicopter. Around 15 people were arrested during the search operation. Army chief General Raheel Sharif has arrived in Peshawar and visited the wounded in hospital. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned the attack and said, “Terrorists will be rooted out from the country”.