At least 50 dead in Charsadda suicide attack

At least 50 people were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up on Friday at a mosque in Charsadda.

Islamabad, Dec.21 : At least 50 people were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up on Friday at a mosque in Charsadda.

Reports reaching here quoted police officials as saying that former Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao was the target of the suicide bomber, but he survived the attack, which took place inside his residential compound.

District Police Chief Feroz Shah was quoted by a foreign news agency as saying that the death toll may rise further, as several people were also injured in the attack.

The injured and the dead have been taken to hospitals in and around Charsadda and Peshawar, The News reported.

Tthe former minister and his son had joined other Muslim faithful to mark the festival of Eid al-Adha.

"The bomber was among the people, who were offering Eid prayers," said NWFP Police Chief Muhammad Sharif Virk, and added that he was standing in the second row behind Sherpao.

This was the second time in the last eight months that Sherpao had escaped a suicide bomb attack. In April this year, he was slightly woundedl at a political rally, when a bomber rushed the stage after he had just delivered a speech.

It was the fourth suicide attack to hit Pakistan since last Friday.

ANI