Bomb injures Pakistani politician in city of Peshawar

A politician and three others have been injured in a bomb blast in Peshawar in north-west Pakistan, police say.

Aurangzeb Khan, a member of the Awami National Party which governs North-West Frontier Province, was seriously hurt.

Mr Khan is opposed to the Taliban and supports action against them in north-western Pakistan bordering Afghanistan.

The area has seen a spate of attacks. A bomb at a volleyball match on 1 January killed about 100 people, while another in Peshawar in October killed 120.

More than 600 people have died in militant attacks in Pakistan since the beginning of October, when the Pakistan army's launched an assault against the Taliban.

Mr Khan was being driven along a road in Peshawar when the bomb exploded.

"We have received four injured people. One of them is the member of Provincial Assembly, Aurangzeb Khan. His condition is bad," Zafar Iqbal, a doctor at Peshawar's Lady Reading Hospital, told the AFP news agency.

Sahibzada Mohammad Anis, Peshawar's top administrative official, said Mr Khan had been the target of the attack.

"I can't say whether it was a planted bomb or a suicide attack. The incident took place near his home," the agency quoted him as saying.

Mr Khan's brother - Aalamzeb Khan - was killed in a bomb blast a few months ago in Peshawar.