Peshawar: The son of a provincial
minister was gunned down by militants at Nowshera in
northwestern Pakistan on Saturday, police said.
Mian Rashid Hussain, the son of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa?s
Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain, was attacked by
the militants while he was out for a walk in Pabbi, the main
city in Nowshera district. He was killed instantly.
Rashid Hussain’s friend, who was seriously injured,
was taken to a hospital in Peshawar.
The attackers fled from the scene. Police surrounded
the area and launched a search for the killers.
Information Minister Hussain, who is a vocal critic of
the Taliban, had received several threats from militants.
The minister had often spoken out against the Taliban
and their attacks on innocent people.
Senior leaders of the Awami National Party, which
rules Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, condemned the attack.
ANP parliamentarian Haji Muhammad Adeel described the
killing as an "open act of terrorism".
He pledged that the party will carry on its campaign
against terrorism despite such attacks.
Provincial senior Minister Bashir Bilour said ANP
leaders and their families were still receiving threats from
militants.
Shortly before the attack on the minister`s son,
Interior Minister Rehman Malik told a news conference in
Karachi that there were reports that militants could target
senior political figures and their relatives.
PTI
