At least 42 dead after Pakistan suicide blast

At least 42 people were killed when a suicide attacker detonated a bomb packed with ball bearings and nails amid hundreds of holiday worshippers at the home of Pakistan’s former interior minister today, authorities said.

It was the second suicide attack apparently targeting Aftab Khan Sherpao in eight months.

Election-related violence is common in Pakistan, but suspicion over the bombing will likely focus on the pro-Taliban or al-Qaida militants active in the north-western region of the country where the attack occurred.

The attack, which came during the Islamic holy day of Eid al-Adha, created a scene of carnage at the mosque at Mr Sherpao’s residential compound in Sherpao, a village 40kms north-east of the city of Peshawar.