At least 13 people were killed and thrice the number injured in a suicide attack near a graveyard on the outskirts of Peshawar on Sunday morning. Though no organisation had claimed responsibility for the attack till late in the evening, police suspect the target was the Deputy Speaker of the Khyber-Pukhtoonkhwa Assembly, Khushdil Khan.
ANP targeted
Mr. Khan, a member of the Awami National Party, escaped unhurt as he had left the place after offering funeral prayers for a member of the local community. According to the police, he had formed an anti-Taliban ‘lashkar' and was on the hit list of the Taliban. Late last month also, the senior leadership of the ANP had been targeted in a bomb blast but all of them, including the Khyber-Pukhtoonkhwa Chief Minister, escaped unhurt.
The suicide bomber detonated himself just as people were heading towards the graveyard with the body for the burial. About eight kilograms of explosive material was used in the blast and all the dead were men.
