QUETTA, Dec 7: Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani escaped a suicide attack on his convoy here on Tuesday that left five security personnel and five other people injured.

“It was an attempt on the life of the chief minister, but he and other officials remained unhurt,” provincial police chief Malik Iqbal said, adding that five personnel of the chief minister's security squad were among the injured.

A spokesman for the banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the attack. Earlier, the Lashkar-i-Jhangvi Al Almi had claimed to have carried out the attack, but Ali Sher Haideri, a spokesman for the Lashkar-i-Jhangvi denied involvement of his group.

A spokesman for the Baloch Liberation United Front (BLUF), Shaiq Baloch, also called reporters to claim responsibility and said the bomb had been detonated by remote control.

The chief minister, along with his staff, was going to his office from his Sarawan House residence when a young man blew himself up near his security convoy at the Sariab railway crossing at about 11.15am.

Sources said that shrapnel from the explosion also hit the chief minister's vehicle. “The back screen of the bullet-proof vehicle was broken in the powerful blast,” Quetta Commissioner Nasim Lahri told Dawn. Staff members in the vehicle also remained unhurt.

Two vehicles, one of them fitted with an electronic signals jammer, were badly damaged and the five security personnel in them were injured. Other vehicles in the convoy were not affected.

Five passersby were injured by splinters.

Nawab Raisani reached the Chief Minister's House in his damaged vehicle.

The suicide bomber blew himself up at a place about 10 feet from the chief minister's vehicle. He was also carrying a grenade that he could not hurl at the convoy. It was later found on the nearby railway line and was defused.

“Four to five kilogrammes of explosives and ball-bearings were in the bomber's jacket,” Quetta police chief Abid Notkani said.

He said signal jammers fitted in the bullet-proof vehicle of the chief minister had saved him.Mr Notkani said police had cleared the area before the convoy left the Sarawan House.Parts of the bomber's body were found over a 200 metres area. “He appears to be 18 to 20 years old, but his face has been blown up and he cannot be recognised,” a police officer said, adding that samples of body parts would be sent to Islamabad for DNA tests to help identify him. It was the second high-profile attack in a week suspected to have been carried out by extremist elements.

On Nov 30, Governor Nawab Zulfiqar Ali Magsi narrowly escaped a bomb attack in Mangochar area of Kalat.

Baloch militant organisations waging a struggle for independence usually attack security forces and other people but have not hit politicians, sardars and nawabs holding top posts in the province, observers say.

Suicide blasts by extremist religious organisations, including Taliban, have not been common in Balochistan, although a few attacks have taken place in Quetta and Pishin, claiming a large number of lives.

Police and Frontier Corps cordoned off the area after the attack and traffic at the railway crossing remained suspended for hours.

“Security forces have launched a search in Quetta and other towns of Balochistan for the culprits,” the sources said.

The provincial police chief set up four investigation teams under the supervision Additional Inspector General (Investigation) Qadeer Bhatti.

A special team of the Federal Investigation Agency also arrived here and collected some evidence from the site.

The condition of injured police driver Iqbal was stated to be critical.

Talking to this correspondent, Chief Minister Raisani termed the attacks on himself and the governor “an attempt to push the Baloch nation towards a civil war”. He said the government would foil all such attempts.

He said all moderate tribal and political leaders were holding consultations and were determined “to go after these elements”.

“We can also go to the mountains with weapons. If they think they are strong, they must remember that we are also quite strong,” Nawab Raisani said.

Replying to a question, the chief minister said he was trying to recover the 'missing people'.

He said the elements carrying out such attacks did not want a strong man in the province.

He said he would be able to say more on the matter after the completion of an inquiry.

GOVERNOR: Talking to newsmen after a convocation, Governor Magsi warned that if attacks on sardars and nawabs were not stopped, a tribal force would take revenge.

He said stern action against anti-peace elements would ensure peace in Balochistan.

He asked how could the extremists get the rights of the Baloch people when they were killing innocent workers like hairdressers, washermen and bakers.

He said now nawabs and chiefs of Baloch tribes were being attacked in the name of the so-called rights movement.

“I and the chief minister have been attacked but the assailants should remember that such acts will push the province towards a tribal war and anarchy,” he said.

He ruled out dialogue with criminals, including bandits, highway robbers and men involved in kidnapping for ransom, and said they should be arrested and punished.

The governor said people had given the PPP a mandate to rule in Balochistan and restore peace in the province.

Amanullah Kasi adds: The Balochistan Assembly condemned the attack and said it was aimed at pushing the province towards a civil war.

Speaking on an adjournment motion moved by Jaffar Khan Mandokhel of the Pakistan Muslim League-Q, the members cautioned that Balochistan had a tribal society and attempts on Nawab Raisani and Nawab Magsi, who were chiefs of their tribes, would have serious repercussions.