PESHAWAR: Suspected Taliban in northwest Pakistan on Saturday shot dead the only son of a provincial minister well known for speaking out against the militants, police said.

Mian Rashid Hussain, 28, was on his way home with a friend in Nowshera district, 25 kilometres (15 miles) east of Peshawar, when they were attacked.

"He died on the spot when unknown gunmen sprayed them with bullets," senior police officer Liaqat Ali told AFP by telephone.

The friend was critically injured, he said, before the attackers managed to flee by car.

Bashir Ahmad Bilour, senior minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, blamed Taliban militants. "We will never bow down to them," he said.

The dead man was the only son of provincial information minister Mian Iftekhar Hussain.

Mian Iftekhar Hussain is considered the most vocal minister against Taliban militants. He also worked as a spokesman for the provincial government.

Bilour described the attack as a targeted killing. "Mian Iftekhar Hussain always raised a voice against terrorists and this was the only reason that his son was attacked."

Washington says Pakistan`s tribal belt, which lies outside direct government control, is an Al-Qaeda headquarters and a stronghold of militants plotting attacks on US-led troops fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan.



BDST: 0908 HRS, July 25, 2010