Provincial legislator among 3 injured in Peshawar blast

A bomb blast today injured a provincial legislator and two others in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar, which has witnessed a series of terror attacks in recent weeks.

The blast occurred in Paharipura area in the suburbs of Peshawar shortly before 1 pm local time, police said. Aurangzeb Khan, a legislator from the Awami National Party (ANP)that rules North West Frontier Province (NWFP), was injured in the attack along with two others.

Witnesses said Khan's car was targeted by the blast just as he was leaving his residence. The injured were taken to Lady Reading Hospital.

Officials said the lawmaker was out of danger while one of his guards was seriously injured.

The exact nature of the blast could not immediately be ascertained. Khan's car was destroyed by the explosion. No group claimed responsibility for the attack.

Aurangzeb Khan's brother Alamzeb Khan, also a provincial legislator, was killed in a similar attack near his residence
in the same area of Peshawar in February last year.

Aurangzeb Khan was elected to the NWFP assembly in by-polls in the constituency represented by his late brother. ANP leaders and legislators have often been targeted by Taliban in Pakistan's northwest. Another ANP lawmaker Shamsher
Ali Khan was killed by a suicide bomber in December last year.

Peshawar has witnessed a string of attacks, blamed by authorities on the Taliban, since mid-October when Pakistani
security forces launched a major offensive against the militant stronghold of South Waziristan.