K-P minister attack: Minister recuperates as police detain 10 suspects

Babak’s discharged from hospital following initial treatment.

PESHAWAR:

Police in the northern district of Buner said that they have detained at least 10 suspects in connection with Sunday’s attack on Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Education Minister Sardar Hussain Babak.

A senior official of Buner police told The Express Tribune that at least 10 suspects have been rounded up in connection with the attack on the minister, however, no arrests have been made so far. The official said that police was investigating the attack and it was premature to say anything with certainty. He added that Taliban militants could possibly be behind the attack.

The official further said that police has also recovered a mobile phone and a grenade from the scene — items which were apparently left by the attackers at the site.

Regarding the number of attackers, the police official said that it was very difficult to tell since the incident took place late at night in a hilly area covered with forests. He did, however, reveal that one fire was shot at the minister’s vehicle. The official said that the vehicle overturned following the gunshots and the minister and three other people sustained injuries.

Babak was attacked late on Sunday in the Chinglai area in the limits of the Totalai Police Station, when he was on his way to his native village of Totalai after inaugurating a school ceremony.

Buner is the hometown of the Education Minister Babak. Following the attack, Babak was rushed to the Swabi Hospital and from there he was transferred to the Lady Reading Hospital on Monday.

Babak’s brother and senior journalist Shamim Shahid told The Express Tribune that the minister’s condition was stable and he was discharged from the hospital following initial treatment. He said that the minister sustained injuries on the shoulder.

The ANP leadership has been a constant target of militants during the ongoing insurgency. Party chief Asfandyar Wali Khan, provincial chief Afrasayab Khattak, Bashir Bilour, Mian Iftikhar Hussain, Arbab Ayub Jan and other leaders have come under attack from militants, while hundreds of party activists including assembly members have been killed by militants in parts of K-P.





Published in The Express Tribune, August 23^rd, 2011.

Correction: An earlier version of this story mentioned Chinglai as Chagnalay and Totalai as Totalay. The error is regretted.