World in brief: Gunmen injure Pakistani minister

Islamabad – A Pakistani government minister narrowly escaped assassination Wednesday after gunmen ambushed his official car in a brazen attack in broad daylight, shooting him and killing his driver.

The highest-profile attack on a senior government official in recent years, it had the earmarks of an Islamic extremist assault. The target, Hamid Saeed Kazmi, the minister for religious affairs, is a moderate who has been critical of Pakistan’s Taliban militants.

Kazmi’s car was sprayed with bullets shortly after he left the Religious Affairs Ministry, on a main road in central Islamabad, around 3 p.m., officials and witnesses said. His driver died on the spot, shot in the head, and a bodyguard was badly wounded. Kazmi was hit in the leg and was being treated at a hospital.

No. 2 official killed in Michoacan state

Mexico City – Gunmen killed the No. 2 security official in the home state of President Felipe Calderon, where drug cartels have launched their biggest offensive yet against Mexico’s government.

Attackers in two vehicles intercepted a car being driven by Michoacan deputy public safety director Jose Manuel Revuelta and opened fire, police at the scene said. State officials said Revuelta, two bodyguards and a bystander were killed.

Revuelta had held the post less than a month in the western state, the cradle of the ruthless La Familia drug cartel.