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7 killed in suicide bombing near home of Pakistani politician

By Reza Sayah, CNN
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • The bombing comes a day after the politician's son was killed
  • The Taliban claimed responsibility for the Saturday shooting
  • Three of those dead in the bombing are policemen

Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- Seven people were killed on Monday in a suicide attack near the home of a leading Pakistani politician and fierce Taliban critic, just two days after the Taliban claimed responsibility for assassinating the politician's son, officials said.

Peshawar police chief Liaqat Ali Khan said the suicide attacker blew himself up at a security checkpost just outside the home of Mian Iftikhar Hussain, a provincial minister in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, a province plagued by militant activity.

In an interview that aired on Pakistani TV, hospital official Sehrab Khan said seven people were killed and 20 were injured in the blast in a village in Nowshera district.

Three of those killed were police officers manning the checkpost, Khan said.

The suicide attack comes a day after the Taliban claimed responsibility for the assassination of Hussain's son. Gunmen shot and killed 25-year-old Mian Rashid Hussain on Saturday night.

In a phone call to CNN, Taliban spokesman Ihsan Ullah Ihsan said the elder Hussain was also on the Taliban's hit list.

Khan said the target of Monday's suicide attack could have been Hussain's house, but might also have been a nearby mosque where friends, family members and fellow government officials were paying their respects to the Hussain family for the loss of their son.

Journalist Nasir Habib contributed to this report for CNN.