Islamabad - At least 27 people were killed 90 injured Tuesday when a car bomb exploded near the residence of a minister in Pakistan's eastern province of Punjab, officials said. The blast in Dera Ghazi Khan town destroyed the house of Dost Mohammad Khosa, the provincial minister for local agencies and community development, and damaged at least half a dozen buildings at an adjacent market.
Regional police chief, Mubarak Athar, said a suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden car near the main gate at Khosa's residence.
"The initial investigations have shown that it was a car suicide bombing," Athar said by telephone from Dera Ghazi Khan. He said the explosion also damaged 10 shops, a mosque and several cars.
Farhat Hussain, the chief medical officer at the area's state-run hospital, said the death toll had risen to 27.
"More than 90 people are injured and nine of the wounded are in a critical condition," he said. Television footage showed the relief workers clearing the debris.
Hassan Iqbal, the town's civil administrator, said Khosa's home was the target of the attack. The minister was not at home at the time of the bombing but his cousin and two household staff were wounded in the incident.
Khosa's brother, Saifuddin Khosa, told local Express television that the blast injured the minister's cousin, his wife and two household staff.
The explosion left a 3-metre deep crater near the main gate of Khosa's residence, officials said. It was the latest in a wave of terrorist attacks sweeping through the country in recent weeks.
Taliban militants are carrying out the deadly strikes to avenge ongoing government military operations in the lawless tribal region that borders Afghanistan.
More than 500 people have died since mid-October when over 30,000 troops launched a ground offensive in South Waziristan, which is said to host hundreds of al-Qaeda operatives.
Officials said the attacks further strengthened the country's resolve to fight Islamist insurgency.
"When the terrorists have started to target ordinary citizens, the entire nation has no option but to stand up against these barbarians with courage and unity," Punjab's Senior Minister Rana Sanaullah said on Tuesday.
The operation in South Waziristan has left around 600 Islamist insurgents and some 80 soldiers, according to the military officials. The figures cannot be independently verified since the region is banned for the reporters and the aid agencies.
Though Pakistan has claimed victory in the ongoing Waziristan operation, most of the estimated 10,000 Taliban and al-Qaeda militants have fled to the neighbouring Orakzai and five other tribal districts.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani vowed over the weekend to extend the army offensive to Orakzai, where the army is already targeting militant hideouts.
Fifteen rebels died and more than a dozen were injured when military jets pounded Taliban hideouts in Orakzai region, said a local intelligence official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
"Our forces destroyed their two training centres and two ammunition depots," added the official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
