Islamabad - At least 12 people were killed and more than 30 injured on Monday in a suicide bomb attack at the house of a lawmaker in Pakistan's central province of Punjab, the police said. The explosion occurred when Rashid Akbar Nawani, a member of lower house of the parliament, the National Assembly, was meeting his supporters at his residence in Bhakkar district, located some 325 kilometers west of provincial capital Lahore.
Nawani, who is a member of ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif's right-wing Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, survived the attack and was moved to the hospital with minor injuries, according to Shaukat Javed, Punjab police chief.
"The attacker who was wearing a suicide jacket entered the place and blew himself up," he said.
"One dozen people are confirmed dead and more than 30 are injured," he added.
Citing health officials, Urdu-language news channel Geo TV reported that the death toll had risen to 17, while 53 people were injured, including 25 critically wounded.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing but a security official said it could be linked with ongoing sectarian violence between Shiite and Sunni extremists in the neighboring North Western Frontier Province, which lies few kilometers in the west.
Nawani has been active in the Shiite community of Bhakkar district.
