QUETTA: A week after a remote-controlled bomb targeted Balochistan Governor Nawab Zulfiqar Magsi, a suicide bomber blew himself up in front of Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani’s motorcade on Tuesday.
However, the chief minister escaped the attack, but 10 people including five police personnel got injured. Lashkar-e-Jhangvi claimed responsibility for the suicide attack. The suicide bomber detonated his explosives-laden jacket seconds after the chief minister’s bulletproof vehicle passed by. However, an escort vehicle came under the attack and was badly damaged. Ten people, including five police personnel were injured.
The condition of one of the injured police officials was declared critical.
Police officials said the bomber’s face was beyond recognition. The chief minister’s vehicle was only slightly damaged as the inner steel shield bore the impact of the blast. The chief minister sped away towards the Chief Minister’s Secretariat. There he switched vehicles and went on to attend the assembly session.
Raisani looked confident and was in a jolly mood as he normally does, without showing any apparent signs of the attack. President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, who is in Turkey, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti telephoned and enquired after Raisani’s health.
All the police personnel were shifted to the combined military hospital. The driver of the damaged vehicle Mohammad Iqbal received serious injuries. Balochistan Inspector General Malik Iqbal, who visited the site of the blast, told reporters that it was a suicide attempt on the chief minister’s life, but the bomber had failed.
The convoy was passing a railway crossing in Saryab Road at the time and an unexploded hand grenade was also found nearby, which indicated that the attacker also wanted to attack the convoy with a grenade before blowing himself up, he said. The Balochistan IG said the suicide bomber came from the side of the railway crossing instead of the road where security had been tightened.
When contacted, Capital City Police Officer Abid Nautkani denied that there was a security lapse. He said it was evident that there was a tight circle of police personnel around Chief Minister Raisani’s motorcade, preventing the bomber from succeeding in his designs.
Later, a man calling himself Zahid Jhangvi of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi International called the Quetta Press Club and claimed responsibility for the attack. He said the chief minister was supporting and protecting Shias, which was intolerable.
