PAKISTAN: Gunmen kill one person in attack on religious affairs minister in Islamabad

Record ID: 353300

  • Title: PAKISTAN: Gunmen kill one person in attack on religious affairs minister in Islamabad
  • Date: 2nd September 2009
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Urdu) A MEDIC IN THE WARD, DR. PASHA, SAYING "The minister is in a stable condition. The bullet hit his leg. His leg is fractured but otherwise he is alright. We have shifted him to the (operation) theatre. He received one bullet in his left leg." VARIOUS OF WOMEN RELATIVES OF DEAD DRIVER WAILING
  • Embargoed: 17th September 2009 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Pakistan
  • Country: Pakistan
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVABOKF3IGUXHKW8SGM3B0BFQU3L
  • Story Text: Unidentified gunmen shot and wounded Pakistan's Religious Affairs Minister, Hamid Saeed Kazmi, in an attack in the capital Islamabad on Wednesday (September 2) that killed his driver, police said.
    Kazmi, a cleric and vocal opponent of Pakistan's hardline Taliban, belongs to the Barelvi sect, moderate adherents to Islamic sufi mysticism which venerates saints and their shrines.
    Police said gunmen sprayed bullets on the minister's car, killing the driver on the spot.
    Bystanders in the crowded area then rushed Kazmi to a nearby hospital.
    "The minister is in a stable condition. The bullet hit his leg. His leg is fractured but otherwise he is alright. We have shifted him to the (operation) theatre. He received one bullet in his left leg," Dr. Pasha, a medic in the hospital told reporters.
    Local news channels showed images of the wounded minister with what appeared to be a leg wound.
    Pakistan has been bracing for retaliatory attacks by Taliban insurgents and groups linked to al Qaeda since a U.S. missile strike killed Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud on Aug. 5.
    The army launched a campaign in April to clear the Taliban from Swat and Buner, two valleys a few hours drive from Islamabad, and has since bottled up the main militant stronghold in South Waziristan.
    Pakistan's show of its military forces has helped allay fears among allies -- particularly the U.S. and other countries with troops in neighbouring Afghanistan -- that the nuclear-armed country was failing to confront Islamic militancy.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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