ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A senior provincial minister in Pakistan who was at the forefront of the country’s fight against militants and banned sectarian groups was killed in a suicide bomb attack on Sunday, officials said. At least 10 other people were also said to have been killed in the bombing, and several were reported wounded.

Shuja Khanzada, 72, the home minister of Punjab Province, was holding a political meeting in his home district of Attock early on Sunday when a loud explosion rocked the building, collapsing it and leaving several people, including Mr. Khanzada, under the debris.

A rescue operation was underway to pull out the wounded and the dead, but rescue workers were facing difficulties because of a lack of equipment to clear the wreckage.

Mr. Khanzada, a retired army colonel, was responsible for maintaining law and order in the province. While there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing, officials speculated that it could have been in response to the July 29 killing of Malik Ishaq, one of Pakistan’s most notorious and feared sectarian militants, in a police shootout.