Militant Group Claims Suicide Bombing against Pakistani Politician

A militant group Friday claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing targeting the head of a leading Pakistani religious political party.

Maulana Fazlur Rehman, head of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) party escaped unscathed from the blast after addressing a rally in the capital of Pakistan's restive Baluchistan province on Thursday.

One person was killed and more than 17 injured in the explosion that happened near Rehman's bulletproof car.

The Jundullah militant group claimed responsibility in a telephone call to Agence France Presse from an undisclosed location and vowed to target Rehman again.

"We very proudly claim responsibility for the suicide attack on Maulana Fazlur Rehman and we will do it again," Ahmed Marwat, the group's spokesman told AFP.

"He has been speaking against us and done some actions against us for which he was targeted."

Jundullah group, active in North Waziristan, claims to have links with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and has claimed several attacks in the past.

Rehman and his party have previously been targeted by the Pakistani Taliban, even though he once acted as a negotiator between the militants and the government during peace talks that broke down earlier this year.

A bombing at a JUI-F election rally in May 2013 killed more than 20 people, while the leader was targeted twice in as many days by bombings in 2011.

Officials said Thursday's attacks could have been in response to the ongoing military operation against militant groups in North Waziristan tribal district along the Afghan border. 

Separately police said that they had rounded up some 20 suspects in connection with a sectarian attack and bombing of a paramilitary convoy which also occurred on Thursday killing 10.

The sectarian attack came just days before the start of the Islamic month of Muharram, considered particularly holy for Shiites.

The month has frequently been marred by violence in recent years. Clashes between Sunnis and Shiites led to at least 11 deaths in the city of Rawalpindi, close to the capital Islamabad, last November.

Ethnic Hazaras have taken the brunt of rising sectarian violence in Baluchistan in recent years. They are often singled out for attack because their Central Asian features make them easily identifiable.