By Aamir Latif
KARACHI, Pakistan
A suicide bomb blast killed 17 people and left dozens trapped under rubble at the office of a senior official in Pakistan’s northeastern Punjab province on Sunday, police said.
Punjab Home Minister Col. Shuja Khanzada was among the fatalities. Rescuers were looking up to 25 people under the debris of his office in Shadi Khan, northwest of Islamabad.
Police said the blast caused the building to collapse as Khanzada held meetings with supporters. Some reports said the bomber posed as a visitor to get into the building while Federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said the explosion was the work of two bombers.
Khanzada was at the fore of a campaign to target Pakistan’s Taliban and the group or its affiliates are strongly suspected of carrying out the attack. Dawn newspaper cited Interior Ministry sources as claiming that militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi had claimed responsibility for the attack in response to the killing of the group’s chief Malik Ishaq in July.
The dead also included a senior police officer who was providing security for the minister. Up to 10 other police officers are still missing.
Rescue workers backed by an army search and rescue team dug through the debris to pull out bodies and the injured. They were hampered by a lack of heavy machinery that had to be brought from Rawalpindi, more than 70 kilometers (45 miles) away.
Several of those wounded in the blast were said by medics to be in a precarious condition.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ordered rescuers to speed up the operation.
Turkey condemned the attack and offered assistance to fight terrorism. "We condemn this villainous terror attack and reiterate that Turkey is ready to provide any assitance to Pakistan in fighting against terror," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
