15 people killed in car bomb blast outside Pak leader's house

A car bomb went off outside the home of a senior Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) (PML-N) leader in Pakistan’s Punjab province today, killing at least 15 people and injuring 35 others, including relatives of the politician.

Officials said the attack targeted the home of veteran PML-N leader Zulfiqar Khosa near a market in Dera Ghazi Khan town.

The state-run Punjab Emergency Service said 15 people were killed and 35 others injured.

"Apparently, the explosives were loaded in a car (which) hit the gate of my residence in Dera Ghazi Khan," Khosa, who was in a village near Islamabad at the time of the attack, told reporters.

He said a mosque and several shops near his home were destroyed by the blast, and people were believed to be buried in the rubble.

Zulfiqar's son Dost Muhammad Khosa, a minister in the provincial government of Punjab, said two of his cousins were injured in the attack.

Dost Muhammad described the bombing as a "direct attack on his family". Zulfiqar said the attack had come "out of the blue", as he had not received threats from anyone.

The blast was the latest in a series of suicide attacks and bombings that have killed more than 500 people in Pakistan since October. However, it was the first attack targeting a senior leader of the opposition PML-N.

The attacks have been blamed on the Taliban, who are retaliating against a military operation targetting them in the country's northwest.

In the past, Dera Ghazi Khan has witnessed sectarian violence between Sunni and Shia groups.