Minister escapes blast, 4 others dead

Pakistan’s Awami National Party chief Asfandyar Wali Khan on Thursday escaped an attempt on his life when a suicide bomber struck at his guest house in northwestern Pakistan, killing four persons and injuring several others.

Pakistan’s Awami National Party chief Asfandyar Wali Khan on Thursday escaped an attempt on his life when a suicide bomber struck at his guest house in northwestern Pakistan, killing four persons and injuring several others.

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Khan was exchanging Eid greetings with friends and well-wishers at his guest house at Wali Bagh in Charsadda in North West Frontier Province when the suicide attacker tried to barge into the compound.

Security personnel challenged the attacker and fired at him, following which he exploded. Two policemen, one of Khan’s bodyguards and a guest were killed in the blast while several others injured, TV channels reported.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack.

After the blast, Khan vowed to “hit back” at the terrorists behind the attack. “Wherever the writ of the government is not accepted and where people think that they will shoot us and we will not hit back, I want to make it absolutely clear if I am hit, I’ll hit back and I’ll hit back very, very strongly,” Khan told reporters. He said “we will die for this soil, we’ll give our blood for this soil but we will not allow terrorists and extremists to take control of this soil.”