Taliban foes' rally is bombed in Pakistan

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - A suicide bomber in Pakistan killed nine people including a provincial government official at a political rally Saturday by a party that has opposed the Taliban, officials said.

The rally in Peshawar, the capital of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, was held by the Awami National Party, whose members have been repeatedly targeted by the Taliban.

Among the dead was Bashir Bilour, the second-most-senior member of the provincial cabinet, said Ghulam Ahmed Bilour, the politician's brother and federal railways minister.

More than 20 were wounded by the blast, said local police officer Sabir Khan.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the bombing in a statement, reiterating the United Nations' support for Pakistani efforts "to combat the scourge of terrorism."

Bilour was leaving the rally after delivering the keynote speech when the attack occurred, said Nazir Khan, a local Awami National Party leader.

"There was smoke and dust all around, and dead and wounded people were lying on the ground," he said.

The suicide bomber was on foot, said another police officer, Imtiaz Khan.

Mian Iftikhar Hussain, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa information minister and a member of the Awami National Party, said both he and Bilour had repeatedly received threats from extremists. He condemned the attack and said the government needed to intensify its battle against the Taliban.

"Terrorism has engulfed our whole society," he said. "They are targeting our bases, our mosques, our bazaars, public meetings, and our security checkpoints."

Ten Taliban fighters attacked the military area of an international airport in Peshawar with rockets and car bombs a week ago, killing four people and wounding more than 40. Five of the extremists were killed during the attack, and five others died the next day in a battle with security forces.

Also Saturday, police said a mob in southern Pakistan stormed a police station to seize a mentally unstable Muslim man accused of burning a copy of Islam's holy book. The crowd beat him to death, then set fire to his body.

The case is likely to raise further concerns about the country's harsh blasphemy laws, which can result in a death sentence or life in prison for anyone found guilty. An accusation or investigation alone can lead to deaths, as people take the law into their own hands and kill those accused of violating it. Police stations and even courts have been attacked by mobs.

Police had arrested the man Friday after being told by residents that he had burned a Quran inside a mosque.