A suicide bomber killed 22 people and wounded dozens more in an attack near the home of a Pakistani politician yesterday.
The blast, in the Punjabi town of Dera Ghazi Khan, was the latest in a series by Taliban avenging an army offensive against insurgents in the northwest. More than 500 people have now been killed.
The attacker detonated his explosives outside the house of the politician, who was not at home. Most of the dead and injured were people shopping or working at a nearby market.
Rescuers said 22 people were killed and 70 wounded.
The politician, Zulfiqar Khosa, is a senior member of the Pakistan Muslim League-N party, which is in charge of the Punjab government but is in the opposition in the federal government.
Police and politicians in Punjab are under pressure to crack down on militant networks that have long recruited in its poor villages and Islamic boarding schools.
The militants have staged several attacks in Punjab to illustrate their reach across the country, far beyond the northwest tribal regions bordering Afghanistan. Dera Ghazi Khan district is in Punjab but borders the country’s other three provinces.
Militants have mostly targeted security forces in recent months, but also deputies and public buildings.
There have also been at least three bombs in crowded markets, apparently aimed at cutting public support for the army offensive.
Meanwhile, a suicide car bomber blew up his vehicle in the heavily secured main diplomatic and government residential neighbourhood of the Afghan capital, Kabul, killing eight people and wounding dozens.
The wreckage of the bomber’s car was in flames outside the gate to the Heetal Hotel, a small hotel used by foreigners.