8 killed as Pakistani gunmen attack lawmaker's home

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Militants used rockets and a bomb to attack the family home of a lawmaker in Pakistan's volatile northwest early Monday, killing eight people including the politician's brother, police said. Meanwhile, Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik announced a ban on the country's umbrella Taliban group, the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan. "This organization is a terrorist organization and created mayhem against the public life, so we decided to declare it banned," he said. The militants targeted the Swat Valley residence of provincial lawmaker Waqar Ahmed Khan of the ruling Awami National Party. Khan confirmed that his brother, two nephews and several guards died in the attack on the compound, belonging to him and his extended family. A peace deal struck between provincial lawmakers and militants in Swat appears to be in tatters amid continuing fighting.