The bomber detonated his explosives next to Ghayur’s car in the center of Peshawar after waiting at a traffic light for the vehicle to approach, said the police chief’s driver, Shakirullah Khan, who was injured in the attack.
“I stopped the car at a traffic light,’’ said Khan, who was driving Ghayur home from the office. “While my boss was sitting in the left front seat, I saw a young boy move from the sidewalk toward our car and in no time a huge explosion took place and our car was in flames.’’
The explosion engulfed several vehicles, killing Ghayur and three bodyguards, said Mohammad Haris Khan, a senior police officer. The attack also injured 11 people, he said.
Rescue workers frantically tried to extinguish the blaze in the minutes after the attack but were unable to save Ghayur, whose body was plastered to his seat and burned beyond recognition.
“We have lost a very brave and able official in this cowardly attack,’’ said Mian Iftikhar Hussain, the information minister for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where Peshawar is the capital.
“It doesn’t mean the terrorists are gaining strength, but they have been beaten and are targeting those who are active in the war against terrorism,’’ he said.
The US Embassy in Islamabad also denounced the attack, saying it was “especially vicious as so many people in the region are struggling to recover from the deadly monsoon flooding.’’
The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the bombing, saying they will continue to target government personnel and leaders of a key political party in the northwest who have been outspoken critics of the militants.
“This is our work,’’ Azam Tariq said by telephone from an undisclosed location. “In the coming days, we will carry out more such attacks against leaders of the Awami National Party, marked people in the government and security forces, and also security buildings.’’
The Frontier Constabulary is a paramilitary police force that is primarily drawn from the northwest and operates throughout the country in support of traditional police officers.
