Pak President Zardari's security chief killed

A senior officer in Pakistan's financial capital said that Bilal Shaikh -- Zardari's close aide -- was killed along with two other people in a prosperous area of eastern Karachi. About a dozen others were wounded.

Aftermath: The bomb targeting one of Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari's security chief killed at least three people in Karachi. Pic/AFP

"It seems that the suicide attacker walked up to Bilal Shaikh's vehicle and blew himself up outside the front passenger seat of the vehicle where Shaikh was seated," said police officer Raja Umar Khattab.

A police escort was accompanying Shaikh's vehicle when the attack took place. No one immediately claimed responsibility.

Shaikh had survived an earlier assassination attempt near his home in Karachi about a year ago.

Both Zardari and PM Nawaz Sharif have issued separate statements condemning the incident.
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