August 16, 2015, 2:48 pm
RAWALPINDI – Punjab Minister for Home Affairs Shuja Khanzada along with 10 other people including a senior police officer reportedly killed in his hometown Shadi Khan in Attock when a suicide bomber attacked his political office where all they were trapped under the rubble, a private TV channel reported on Sunday.
Rescue and administration officials confirmed the death toll. At least 17 other people were injured in the blast. “The bodies of eight people have been pulled out from the rubble,” Rawalpindi commissioner told journalists. He confirmed that it was a suicide attack.
According to reports, a jirga (open court) was underway at the minister’s political office in his native Shadi Khan village when the suicide attacker detonated his explosives. The blast caused the roof of the building to collapse under which the provincial home minister and other people were trapped.
Soon after the attack, State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Sheikh Aftab Ahmed confirmed that rescue workers were trying to rescue Khanzada – a retired army colonel – and other people, while eyewitnesses said that 20 and 25 people were still trapped under the debris. “We responded as soon as we received information from Attock,” said Deeba Shahnaz – a spokesperson of the Rescue 1122 service.
Confirming the death toll, a Punjab police spokesperson said that DSP Syed Shaukat Shah’s body had been recovered from rubble. Another police official also confirmed the attack as a suicide bombing. Sohrab Khanzada – nephew of Khanzada – told a private channel that he was in the kitchen when the blast rocked the building with such intensity that it caused the entire building to collapse.
He said that rescue workers were trying to retrieve the injured and dead from underneath the debris. Minister for Interior Affairs Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan directed authorities to provide helicopter from his ministry for the shifting of the injured on emergency basis, while he has also instructed army and air force personnel to aid in the rescue operation.
This is a developing story and will be updated as new information comes in.