PESHAWAR, July 26 At least eight people, two children and three policemen among them, were killed and at least 15 injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up on Monday near the home of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain whose only son was killed in the same area on Saturday.

The banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan accepted responsibility for the blast and warned of more attacks on leaders and workers of the Awami National Party (ANP).

According to witnesses, the bomber detonated his explosive-laden vest after he was intercepted by policemen deputed at the entrance of an alley in the Miagan area where the minister lived.

The blast destroyed nearby shops and caused some damage to a number of houses and a mosque.

Three relatives of the minister were among the injured.

A number of women were present in Mian Iftikhar's house, about 40 metres from the place where the blast took place, to offer condolences over the death of his son.

The minister, the most vocal critic of militants, was at the Government Degree College outside the town meeting people who had come to offer condolence.

“We suspect that the target of the attacker was the mosque in the street, but the policemen on duty sacrificed their lives and averted what could have been a large-scale devastation,” Peshawar police chief Liaqat Ali Khan said, adding that the bomber had used eight to 10kgs of explosives.

The police official said there were reports about presence of another two bombers in the area and a search was under way.

Frontier Constabulary Commandant Safwat Ghayur ordered a thorough search for suspected militants around the area.

A relative of Mian Iftikhar told Dawn that the mother and wife of Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti were at his home when the blast took place. “I am not sure whether the attacker wanted to attack the house or the mosque,” Mian Naveed said.

“We received seven bodies, some of which were mutilated. Most of the injured were shifted to Peshawar,” Pabbi Satellite Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Akber Khaksar said.

He said the hospital had also received two legs, apparently of the bomber.

“I saw the attacker in black clothes with a bandaged arm. He was posing as a drug addict or a beggar and was trying to force his way into the street,” local resident Zabiullah said.

When the man approached the police checkpoint, he blew himself up. There was a loud explosion which raised a plume of dust. He said he fell on ground and when the dust settled he saw a number of bodies lying around. People who were injured were crying in pain. The place was littered with human limbs and shards of glass.

Those killed were sub-inspector Gul Malook Khan, constables Hemat Khan and Alamzaib, shopkeeper Mudasir Khan, children Abdullah and Ayesha, passerby Suleman Khan and Syed Raziq Shah, the principal of a private school for orphans.

Pabbi police have registered a case under the Pakistan Penal Code, Explosive Substances Act and Anti-Terrorism Act.

Sailab Mehsud adds from Ladha Claiming responsibility for the blast TTP's deputy spokesman Ahsanullah Ahsan told this correspondent by phone that such attacks would continue till the ANP stopped following dictates of the United States and security forces.