ISLAMABAD, Feb 15:
The chief minister of Pakistan’s restive Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province today had a narrow escape when a suicide bomber blew himself up near his motorcade in the country’s northwest.
There were no casualties, officials said.
Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti’s motorcade was passing College Chowk in Mardan city when the suicide attacker tried to approach it.
Witnesses said the bomber detonated his explosives when he was challenged by policemen.
Hoti and others in the motorcade escaped unhurt, chief minister’s spokesman Javed Khaki told the media.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack though such incidents are usually blamed on the Pakistani Taliban.
The Chief Minister belongs to Mardan and often spends weekends in the city. He had come to Mardan today to address a public gathering at a park.
Soon after the blast, Hoti addressed the gathering amidst tight security.
The bomber managed to strike even though police had already cleared the route of the Chief Minister’s motorcade.
Hoti’s Awami National Party rules the northwestern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, where hundreds have died in suicide attacks and bombings carried out by the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan.
On December 22, senior ANP leader Bashir Ahmad Bilour was killed by a Taliban suicide bomber in Peshawar.
The ANP says it has lost over 700 workers and leaders in terrorist attacks since 2008. (AGENCIES)
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