5 killed in suicide attack on Punjab home minister's residence

The attacker struck at the home of retired colonel Shuja Khanzada in the town of Attock, 70 kilometers west of the capital Islamabad, on Sunday morning, police and rescue workers said. The explosion caused the whole building to collapse, the minister's son Sohrab Khanzada said. A number of people remain buried under the debris, although there has been no official news about the condition of Shuja Khanzada. "My father is buried under the debris. Rescue work is in full swing. We have recovered many people, dead and injured. Pray for my father," Sohrab Khanzada said. The provincial home minister for Punjab was in the middle of a meeting with members of the public at a hall adjacent to the residence in the village of Shadi Khan when the suicide bomber attacked. Politicians and religious leaders often build hujras (meeting places) adjacent to their houses in which to hold meetings with their followers. Attock is a small town in Punjab on the border with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. Khanzada was among people who ordered an operation on July 29 this year against the anti-Shiite extremist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, during which 15 members of the group, including its leader Malik Ishaq, were killed in Muzaffargarh in southern Punjab. Source: Kyodo