Aftab Sherpao escapes another Taliban attack

Daily Times

Former interior minister Aftab Khan Sherpao and his son escaped a life attempt on Saturday when a suicide bomber blew himself after a public meeting in Charsadda, police said.
One of Sherpao’s police guards was killed and MPA Muhammad Ali Khan was among eight people wounded in the bombing, police said.
Police officer Saeed Khan said the PPP-Sherpao chief was passing through the district of Charsadda after addressing a political rally when a young man appeared out of an open field and blew himself up near the politician’s bullet-proof vehicle.
Saeed Khan said he was riding in another vehicle and saw the attacker, but before anyone could take any action, the man detonated the bomb.
“A policeman was killed and eight others were wounded including the provincial assembly member, Muhammad Ali Khan, in the suicide attack,” Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain told AFP.
“The lawmaker is out of danger and being shifted to the provincial headquarters in Peshawar,” he said.
Police said the bomber struck when the security convoy escorting the political leaders left the rally venue.
“The suicide bomber walked in the security convoy and hit the vehicles,” local police chief Nisar Khan Marwat said.
A local leader of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack.
“We made this attack because Aftab Sherpao has cooperated with the government for an operation against us in the Tribal Areas,” Omer Khalid, a local Taliban leader, told AFP by telephone from an undisclosed location.
According to the Bomb Disposal Squad, five to six kilogrammes of explosives had been used in the attack. The blast damaged two police vehicles escorting the PPP-Sherpao leaders, witnesses said. The injured were admitted to nearby hospitals.
Hospital sources said Sikandar Sherpao, the son of Aftab Sherpao, sustained a minor injury at right hand, adding that he was discharged from hospital after he was given first aid.
Sherpao, who comes from an influential political dynasty in the northwest, heads a splinter group of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party. He said such attacks could not deter his resolve and he would continue holding such rallies. He was campaigning ahead of parliamentary elections that are expected to be held later this year.
Sherpao, who is also former chief minister of the province, had supervised operations against the TTP during the tenure of former president Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf.
The Taliban vowed to kill him, and have carried out a number of attacks against his party over the years. This was the third suicide attempt on the former interior minister in Charsadda.
In April 2007, a suicide bomber attacked one of the party’s rallies, killing 28 people. In December 2007, a suicide bomber again targeted Sherpao amid hundreds of worshippers at a mosque inside his home in the same region, killing at least 50 people.
Meanwhile, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Masood Kausar condemned the attack on the convoy of the former interior minister.
The governor phoned Aftab Sherpao and expressed his grief and sorrow over the loss of precious lives. He also prayed for eternal peace of the departed soul and courage to the bereaved family to bear the irreparable loss with patience. The governor also wished early recovery of the injured. agencies