Punjab Home Minister Col (r) Shuja Khanzada was killed along with dozens of others in a bombing at his political office in Shadi Khan near Attock on Sunday.
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Khanazada, a retired colonel of the Pakistan Army, succumbed to serious injuries he suffered after being buried under the rubble of the building, Punjab chief minister’s advisor Syeed Ilahi told Geo TV. “The banned outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) has claimed responsibility for the suicide attack on Khanzada”, sources in the interior ministry said. Ihsanullah Ihsan, the group’s spokesman, said it was the work of two suicide bombers.
The European Union (EU) late Sunday expressed condolences over the deadly suicide attack that killed at least 15 people, including a minister, in Pakistan’s Attock city, officials said.
Earlier this year, Khanzada had said the Punjab government received threat alerts for airports, prisons, schools and sensitive installations, besides targeted killing of known personalities and kidnap for ransom.
Taliban-affiliated Lashkar-e-Islam is based mainly in the tribal areas along the Afghan border and it claimed the attack was retaliation for military operations again-st them.
An initial report submitted by the Bomb Disposal Unit indicated that a C-4 chemical was used for this massive suicide blast, and at least two suicide bombers exploded themselves. One of the bombers detonated his device at the entrance to the hall, and the other in a back street behind the spot where the minister was sitting, the police chief said.
Mr Khanzada was seen as the man in charge of the anti-terror campaign in Pakistan’s biggest province.
“Khanzada has embraced martyrdom”, said chief rescue official Mohammad Ashfaq, local media reported.
“We will need to be prepared for more possible attacks as this effort continues”, it said, adding that there is every reason to believe that, driven to desperation, the militants will strike again.
Malik Ishaq was shot dead along with fellow Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) militants, including senior commanders, in Punjab.
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Pakistan People’s Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto also condemned the attack and called for unity in the national ranks to eliminate terrorism.
