DERA GHAZI KHAN: Seven people, including two candidates of the upcoming local government elections, were killed and 13 others injured in a suspected suicide attack on the camp office of a PML-N lawmaker in Taunsa on Wednesday.

The blast, which rocked the shrine city of Hazrat Shah Sulaiman Taunsivi, took place a little before noon when a number of people were at the camp office of MNA Sardar Amjad Farooq Khosa in connection with the campaigning for the local bodies’ polls.

Mr Khosa was not there when the suspected bomber blew himself up. He had gone to Islamabad on Tuesday night.

Personnel of law-enforcement agencies and Rescue 1122 service took the bodies, including that of the suspected bomber, to hospital.

The dead were identified as Zameerul Hassan Sanghi, Akhtar Khan Tangwani, Mohammad Hussain, Malik Iftikhar, Ghulam Jaafar Saanghi, Umer Daraz and Zahid Quraishi. Zameerul Hassan and Akhtar Tangwani were candidates for the chairmanship of union councils.

Most of the injured were discharged from the Taunsa THQ hospital after first aid but the MNA’s aide Pir Bashir Jaafar and camp office cook Munir Bhutta were admitted there.

Bashir Jaafar told reporters that he was making a phone call when the blast took place.

Police said the bomber was about 20 years old. Samples of parts of his body were sent for forensic analysis and to ascertain his identity.

Khalid Khan, chief inspector of the bomb disposal squad, told Dawn that 13kg explosives and ball bearings had been used for the blast.

According to District Police Officer Ghulam Mubashar Maikin, Taunsa Sharif is adjacent to several troubled areas in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He said a joint team had been formed to investigate the incident.

Dawn.com quoted some eyewitnesses as saying that men on two motorcycles had come to the camp office immediately before the blast. The building caught fire after the explosion and a plume of smoke enveloped the entire area.

Published in Dawn, October 15th, 2015

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