KP Chief Minister Amir Hoti escapes Swabi blast
23 October, 2012
PESHAWAR: A remote-controlled bomb went off minutes after the motorcade of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Amir Haider Hoti passed through the area in Swabi district on Monday. The chief minister and his team remained unhurt. The low-intensity blast caused no loss of life nor did it injure anyone, local police told reporters. "Other people (indirect reference to Taliban) have also welcomed me," the chief minister later told a public meeting inside Swabi grid station after inaugurating the installation of a transformer. Police said three kilogrammes of explosives were used in the blast and its immediate target was the chief minister. "I think the jammers (in vehicles of security team) prevented the bomb from going off when the chief minister was passing through the site of the blast," said a police official who declined to be named. Hoti was on his way to Col Sher Khan Chowk to inaugurate Swabi-Mardan and Swabi-Topi road. No group has so far claimed responsibility for the failed attack. Swabi has been a stronghold of the Awami National Party for decades. Separately, a second bomb went off in Swabi district, injuring six people, including a policeman. The bomb was planted in a cycle near Shawa Bus Stand Chowk. End.
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