By DPA,
Islamabad : At least 12 people were killed and more than 30 injured Monday in a suicide bomb attack at the house of a lawmaker in Pakistan’s Punjab province, the police said.
The explosion occurred when Rashid Akbar Nawani, a member of lower house of Pakistan’s parliament, the National Assembly, was meeting his supporters at his residence in Bhakkar district, some 325 km west of provincial capital Lahore.
Nawani, who is a member of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s right-wing Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, survived the attack and was moved to the hospital with minor injuries, according to Shaukat Javed, Punjab police chief.
“The attacker who was wearing a suicide jacket entered the place and blew himself up,” he said.
“One dozen people are confirmed dead and more than 30 are injured,” he added.
Citing health officials, Urdu-language news channel Geo TV reported that the toll has risen to 17, while 53 people were injured.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing but a security official said it could be linked with ongoing sectarian violence between Shia and Sunni extremists in the neighbouring North-West Frontier Province.
Nawani has been active in the Shia community of Bhakkar district.