PESHAWAR: Arif Wazir, a senior leader of the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) died in an Islamabad hospital on Saturday, a day after he was attacked by unidentified gunmen in the South Waziristan tribal district, senior members of his party said.
The PTM which identifies as a Pashtun rights movement campaigns against what it alleges are military excesses against ethnic populations during anti-terrorism operations.
PTM emerged in 2018, after the killing of an ethnic Pashtun man by police in the port city of Karachi. The killing led to nationwide protests.
On Friday, minutes before iftar, indiscriminate firing from a moving car outside Wazir's home in Wana left the Pashtun leader critically wounded according to PTM leader Abdullah Nangyal. Following this, he was taken to Islamabad for treatment.
"But [I say] with a heavy heart, Arif Wazir embraced martyrdom on Saturday morning," Nangyal told Arab News.
Soon after his killing, rights group Amnesty International said in a statement that Pakistani authorities must carry out an independent and effective investigation into the attack on Wazir.
Mohsin Dawar, a member of Pakistan's national assembly and a PTM founding leader told Arab News that it was the responsibility of the state to ensure the protection of its citizens.
“It’s a failure of the state for not protecting its citizens," he said.
The deceased, who had been released from prison on bail a month ago after being charged with delivering an "anti-Pakistan" speech in April, was also the first cousin of sitting MNA Ali Wazir from South Waziristan. Nangyal said the lawmaker had lost over a dozen family members in recent years to armed assaults by militants.
Pakistan says members of the PTM are funded by foreign states and agencies. The PTM denies any external links.
Many PTM supporters are ethnic Pashtuns who hail originally from areas bordering Afghanistan, which used to be the center point of a long insurgency by Taliban and subsequent operations by the Pakistan army.
Senior PTM leader dies after Wana gun attack
https://arab.news/49k5q
Senior PTM leader dies after Wana gun attack
- Arif Wazir succumbed to his injuries in Islamabad a day after attack outside his South Waziristan home
- Was released from prison on bail last month after being charged with making anti-Pakistan speech
Suicide bomber kills at least five at wedding in northwest Pakistan
- Attack took place in Dera Ismail Khan, targeting the home of a local peace committee member
- Peace committees are community-based groups that report militant activity to security forces
PESHAWAR: A suicide bomber killed at least five people and wounded 10 others after detonating explosives at a wedding ceremony in northwestern Pakistan on Friday, officials said, in an attack that underscored persistent militant violence in the country’s restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
The blast took place at the home of a local peace committee member in Dera Ismail Khan district, where guests had gathered for a wedding, police and emergency officials said.
Peace committees in the region are informal, community-based groups that work with security forces to report militant activity and maintain order, making their members frequent targets of attacks.
“A blast occurred near Qureshi Moor in Dera Ismail Khan. Authorities have recovered five bodies and shifted 10 injured to hospital,” said Bilal Faizi, a spokesman for the provincial Rescue 1122 emergency service, adding that the rescue operation was ongoing.
Police said the attacker blew himself up inside the house during the ceremony and that the bomber’s head had been recovered, confirming it was a suicide attack.
Several members of the local peace committee were present at the time, raising fears the toll could rise.
District Police Officer Sajjad Ahmed Sahibzada said authorities had launched an investigation into the incident, while security forces sealed off the area.
Militant attacks have surged in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after the Taliban returned to power in neighboring
Afghanistan in 2021, with the administration in Islamabad blaming the Afghan government for “facilitating” cross-border attacks targeting Pakistani civilians and security forces. However, Kabul has repeatedly denied the allegation.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has also seen frequent intelligence-based operations by security forces targeting suspected militants.
No group has immediately claimed responsibility for Friday’s attack.
