A suicide bomber killed sixteen people and wounded dozens more at the Awami National Party rally being attended by Ghulam Ahmed Bilour here on Tuesday, officials said. It was the fourth deadly attack on politicians or political parties in three days as the country prepares to hold historic polls on May 11. Senior Awami National Party (ANP) leader Ghulam Ahmed Bilour, who served as railways minister in the outgoing government, escaped the bombing with cuts and bruises.
He appeared on television with blood spattered on his trousers. "At least 16 people have died and more than 35 been wounded," Doctor Arshad Javed, chief of Peshawar's main Lady Reading hospital, told AFP. Five policemen and one journalist were among the dead, and two journalists among the wounded, hospital officials and police said. Senior police official Shafqat Malik told AFP the attack was a suicide bombing. Mohammad Sharif, a 50-year-old suitcase vendor, said that when he and other ANP workers spotted Bilour's car and moved to welcome the leader, a huge blast threw him to the ground.
"When I looked around, I saw bodies, blood and human flesh scattered all over the place and wounded men in blood-soaked clothes crying for help," said Sharif, who was hit by shrapnel in his right leg. Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for a suicide attack Ghulam, whose brother and ANP leader Bashir Bilour was assassinated by the Taliban last year, became an insurgents' favourite after posting a $100,000 ransom for the death of a film-maker behind a controversial anti-Islam movie last year.
The Taliban apologised for injuring Bilour, saying it had targeted his nephew, Haroon, the son of the slain ANP leader. The Taliban have directly threatened the ANP and its outgoing coalition partners, the Pakistan People's Party and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, which are perceived as secular.