A pair of suicide bombers detonated their explosives at the home of an anti-Taliban provincial minister, killing him and 13 others in eastern Pakistan, officials said. A militant group affiliated with the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility.
Shuja Khanzada's body was retrieved from the rubble of the collapsed building in his hometown of Shadi Khan in Attock district, some 80 kilometers (50 miles) northwest of the capital, Islamabad, government official Saeed Elahi said.
The Punjab provincial head of Pakistan's National Action Plan against terrorism, Khanzada took a bold public stance against the Taliban and Islamic militancy. A former army officer, Khanzada helped establish the anti-terrorism department in Punjab province — which is home to a variety of local militant groups, most of them allied to the Taliban and al-Qaida.
Another 17 others were wounded in the explosion, four of them in critical condition, said Deeba Shahnaz, an official with the state rescue agency.
