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Militants attack home of Pakistan official
Militants attacked the family home of a lawmaker in Pakistan's volatile northwest early on Monday, killing at least eight people, police said.
- AP
- Published: 08:01 August 25, 2008
Peshawar: Militants attacked the family home of a lawmaker in Pakistan's volatile northwest early on Monday, killing at least eight people, police said.
Meanwhile, Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik announced a ban on the country's umbrella Taliban group, the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan.
The militants targeted the Swat Valley residence of provincial lawmaker Waqar Ahmed Khan of the ruling Awami National Party. Khan said his brother, two nephews and several guards died in the attack on the compound, which belongs to him and his extended family.
Several rockets were used and the militants set on fire the bungalow at the Khan family's residence in the valley's Shah Dheri area before leaving, police officer Saifur Rehman said. He said eight people were killed.
Rehman Malik, the head of the federal Interior Ministry, told The Associated Press on Monday that the government had decided to ban the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan.
"This organisation is a terrorist organisation and created mayhem against the public life, so we decided to declare it banned," Malik, the country's top civilian security official, said.
Malik noted that despite the peace deal, militants kept attacking security forces, burning schools and damaging public buildings.
"Anyone having link with this organisation, promoting its literature and message, helping it financially or in any other way will be taken to task according to the law," Malik said.
He said it had not been officially banned previously because the provincial government was trying to negotiate with the group.
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