Islamabad: Pakistan's Religious Affairs
Minister Hamid Saeed Kazmi, a vocal critic of the Taliban, was on Wednesday injured in a brazen assassination attempt when gunmen
opened fire at his car in the heart of Islamabad, killing his
driver and wounding a bodyguard.
Two motorcycle-borne gunmen attacked Kazmi's car with
automatic weapons as he was leaving his office in the
religious affairs ministry near the busy Melody Market in
Islamabad shortly after 3 pm, witnesses and police officials
said.
The brazen attack occurred a short distance from a large
police station though witnesses claimed policemen did not
react as the gunmen fired a volley of bullets into the car.
The assault was apparently well-coordinated as the gunmen
killed the driver by shooting him in the head before firing at
the minister. The car veered off the road and hit a tree. The
gunmen escaped on the motorcycle soon after the shooting.
TV news channels beamed footage of Kazmi, 51, being
rushed to Polyclinic Hospital in a police van. Doctors who
operated on him told reporters he was hit in the left leg by a
single bullet that fractured the bone. Other officials
described the condition of the bodyguard as critical.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik told reporters after
visiting Kazmi in hospital that the minister was safe. He
described the attack as an act of "targeted killing".
Senior Superintendent of Police (operations) Tahir Alam
said police found a bag with a Kalashnikov, two pistols and a
grenade that was dumped by the gunmen a short distance from
the site of the attack. The attackers appeared to be locals
and had not come from outside Islamabad, he told reporters.
A spokesman for Islamabad Police said a "few suspects"
were arrested soon after the attack but did not give details.
Raids were conducted across the city while checking was
enhanced at all entry points to the capital, he added.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack though
Kazmi, a religious scholar who belongs to the ruling Pakistan
People's Party, has been an outspoken critic of the Taliban.
In May, he helped organise a conference of religious leaders
that denounced the Taliban's suicide bombings as un-Islamic.
Kazmi, a Sunni from the Barelvi school, recently joined
hands with Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi to
consolidate moderate Barelvi groups to take on extremists who
are usually backed by the hardline Deobandis. Observers
believe this could have angered militants.
The minister has also defended the government offensive
against the Taliban in the Swat valley. He said the government
had tried its best to restore order through peaceful means and
a military operation had become imperative after the militants
carried out frequent suicide attacks against the security
forces.
Sources close to Kazmi said he had told government
colleagues on several occasions that he had received threats.
Minister of State for Religious Affairs Shagufta Jumani said
her ministry had often sought additional security due to
threat perceptions.
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza
Gilani expressed shock over the attack and condemned it.
Zardari said Pakistan is a frontline state in the war against
terror and will spare no effort in confronting challenges
posed by the extremists and terrorists.
Gilani, currently on an official visit to Libya,
described the attack as deplorable. He ordered an inquiry into
the incident and said the perpetrators of such heinous crimes
will not be spared. Gilani also expressed his resolve to fight
terrorism till it is completely eradicated.
Opposition PML-N chairman Raja Zafrul Haq and Deputy
Speaker Faisal Karim Kundi described the attack as a major
security lapse. They pointed out it had occurred despite
stringent security arrangements put in place in Islamabad and
reports of threats to federal ministers.
Bureau Report
First Published: Wednesday, September 02, 2009, 20:14