Four persons, including three security personnel, and the suicide bomber himself, were killed and dozens others sustained injuries in a suicide attack on the residence of Federal Minister for Political Affairs Amir Muqaam in Hayatabad Township here on Friday.
According to eyewitnesses, a man, later proved to be suicide bomber, approached the gate of the residence of Engineer Amir Muqaam and, on refusal of entry, he exploded the explosive material tied to his body. There was a big bang, and three security personnel lost their lives. They were Tariq, a policeman of Islamabad, Farooq Shah of Frontier Constabulary and Arif, a local policeman.
The minister was not hurt as he was busy in a meeting with parliamentarians and workers of his political party, PML-Q. However, his cousin, a former MPA Mohammad Khan, sustained injuries in the blast. The names of other injured persons could not be ascertained immediately.
The injured were rushed to the nearby Hayatabad Medial Complex (HMC). After the attack, the law enforcement agencies cordoned off the area and started investigation. They were reported to have found the legs and other body parts of the suspected suicide bombers.
This suicide bombing was the first after imposition of state of emergency. Engineer Amir Muqaam, who has been declared 'brother' by President General Pervez Musharraf and who gave his pistol to him, was elected on the ticket of MMA. He later defected to PML-Q and was inducted as federal minister as minister and later as provincial president of the party in the province.
Speaking to journalists, he vowed that he would not be intimidated through such coward attacks, and said that the war on terrorism would continue. He said that terrorists were basically timid people, and the government would not bow to them.