A bomb attack targeted a public meeting due to be addressed by a Pakistani cabinet minister in the northwest on Monday, killing five people and wounding more than 20, officials said.
Amir Muqam, minister without portfolio from the Pakistan Muslim League-Q party, had not yet arrived at the venue when the bomb exploded near the northwestern Swat valley where the Taliban once led a two-year insurgency.
“We had informed the local administration some time ago and there should have been proper security arrangements in place,” Muqam told Geo television after the attack in Batgram town, about 65 kilometres (40 miles) northeast of Swat.
“Five people, including two policemen, were killed and more than 20 others injured,” top local administration official Khalid Khan Omarzai told AFP.
“It is not clear whether it was a suicide attack or a planted device, but the target was definitely the public meeting,” he added.
Local MP Shah Hussain confirmed the casualties and the incident, and said that the five bodies were brought to a local hospital.
