(AKI) - By Syed Saleem Shahzad - A senior minister from Pakistan's North West Frontier Province's government, Bashir Ahmed Bilour, is believed to have been the main target in a suicide bombing that killed at least three people on Tuesday. Several others were wounded in the attack in which a suicide bomber blew himself up outside Qayyum Stadium after the closing ceremony of the inter-provincial games in Peshawar.Bilour, the senior leader of the Pushtun sub-national Awami National Party, had left the stadium minutes before the powerful blast struck the stadium.
NWFP Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani, who also attended the closing ceremony, had also left the stadium minutes before the attack.
Although the Senior Provincial Minister Bashir Ahmed Bilour left the Stadium, the main target being the senior leader of Pushtun sub-national Awami National Party, a powerful blast rocked the Qayyum Stadium, Peshawar at the closing ceremony of the Inter-provincial games on Tuesday evening.
"Two main reasons could be behind the blast. One the attendance of high level government officials in the event and second the participation of women athletes in the event in Peshawar," a source said.
"This is a suicide attack. We ensured foolproof security arrangements but given it was a sports event we could not restrict the movement of people," said NWFP's Inspector General Malik Naveed.
No one had claimed responsibility for the attack on Tuesday in Peshawar but several attacks in recent months have been blamed on Al-Qaeda or Taliban factions. "It will be premature to put the blame on any group," Malik Naveed told Adnkronos International (AKI).
Earlier, three-day 3rd Inter Provincial Games started with a colourful ceremony at the Qayyum Stadium Peshawar on Sunday. More than 1200 athletes and officials, under the banner of the Pakistan Olympic Association (POA), participated in 18 different events at the games that included eight women's events.