Islamabad, September 03: Pakistan government will provide bullet-proof vehicles to federal ministers in the wake of an assassination attempt on Religious Affairs Minister Hamid Saeed Kazmi, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said today.
“There are very few official bullet-proof vehicles that have been given to ministers, and I am using a privately hired bullet-proof car,” Malik told reporters after visiting Kazmi at a hospital here.
President Asif Ali Zardari has directed the government to acquire more bullet-proof vehicles for the ministers, he said.
Kazmi narrowly escaped the attempt on his life yesterday when two gunmen fired at his vehicle, killing his driver and seriously wounding his bodyguard. The minister, who was using a car that was not bullet-proof, was hit by a bullet in the leg.
Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani use bullet-proof cars that were gifted to them by country in the Middle East.
Most foreign missions in Islamabad, including the Indian High Commission, have imported several bullet-proof cars for their senior diplomats after a surge in deadly attacks by the Taliban in the past two years.
–Agencies