Two people died Friday in the attempted assassination of a former Pakistani federal minister and senior leader of a leftist political party in the insurgency-plagued North-West Frontier Province, officials said.

Unknown gunmen opened fire on the car of Afzal Khan Lala in the village of Matta in the Swat district as he was driving home from a funeral, killing his driver and bodyguard, local police chief Iqbal Ahmed told the Dawn news channel.

The former minister for Kashmir affairs in the 1990s, his nephew and two companions were injured in the attack, which Ahmed said was likely the work of pro-Taliban militants.

Lala and his liberal Awami National Party are staunchly opposed to the ongoing anti-government militancy in the province.

"The incident could be in line with previous attacks by the insurgents, but we have started investigations to determine the motives," Ahmed said.

The province has seen a steep rise in violence since government troops stormed Islamabad's radical Red Mosque in July. More than 100 people died in the assault.

Extremists have since carried out a series of retaliatory attacks in North-West Frontier Province and neighbouring tribal areas, killing more than 100 law enforcers.

The area has also experienced a growing radicalization as local militants try to enforce Taliban-style law on the public.

Assailants on Friday blew up a barber shop in the village of Aligrama in Swat after warning the owner to stop shaving beards, which the militants believe are obligatory for every Muslim man.

In the neighbouring Kohat district, two music shops were destroyed when a homemade explosive device exploded outside their doors. dpa ns na ls