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Four killed as bomb blast targets Pakistan politician’s convoy
PESHAWAR, Pakistan, July 13, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – At least four people were
killed and 39 injured after a bomb hidden inside a motorcycle detonated as a
Pakistani politician’s convoy passed by Friday, police said, as the country
gears up for an election.
The bomb near the northwestern town of Bannu was targeting the convoy of
the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) candidate Akram Khan Durrani, who survived
the attack, police said. “The bomb was planted in a motorcycle,” regional
police officer Kareem Khan told AFP. Other local authorities confirmed the
attack.
The MMA is a coalition of religious parties based in Pakistan’s northwest.
Durrani is standing against cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, whose
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party (PTI) is one of the frontrunners in the July
25 vote.
“Strongly condemn the terrorist attack on Akram Durrani and his convoy,”
Khan tweeted after the attack.
“There seems to be a conspiracy to sabotage the 25 July elections but the
people of Pakistan will not allow any design intended to target these
historic elections to succeed,” he continued.
The blast comes days after a bomb claimed by the Pakistani Taliban
targeted a rally by the Awami National Party (ANP) in the city of Peshawar on
Tuesday. Hospital officials said Friday that the toll in that attack had
risen to 22.
Local ANP leader Haroon Bilour was among those killed. Thousands flocked
to his funeral the next day.
Pakistan’s security has dramatically improved in recent years, with the
miltary cracking down on militancy that has cost tens of thousands of lives
in the past decade.
But analysts have long warned that the country has not tackled the root
causes of extremism.
BSS/AFP/MSY/1440 hrs