Quetta: A Pakistan MP escaped an assassination attempt on Friday when a bomb planted in his shoe exploded as he put them on outside a mosque after prayers, officials said.
The blast in Dera Bugti, about 500 kilometres east of Quetta, capital of the restive province of Baluchistan, wounded 12 people, but their injuries were not life-threatening, police and local officials said.
Ahmedan Bugti, a lawmaker with the Pakistan Muslim League-Q party, which is part of the ruling national coalition, left his shoes outside the mosque while he was offering Friday prayers, provincial home secretary Akbar Durrani told AFP.
Someone planted an explosive device in one of them which detonated as he put the shoe back on.
“Bugti’s leg was badly wounded, a helicopter has been arranged to fly him to Quetta,” Durrani said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility but Baluchistan is plagued by militancy, sectarian violence and a separatist insurgency.
Separatists demanding more autonomy and a greater share of Baluchistan’s oil and gas revenues rose up in 2004, while violence has surged in the province this year and human rights activists have raised concerns about an increase in targeted killings.
