Latest news with #Bajaur
Arab News
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Awami National Party leader killed as militant violence escalates in northwest Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: Two people, including a senior leader of the Awami National Party (ANP), were shot dead by unidentified assailants in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province on Thursday, the chief minister's office said. Maulana Zeb Khan, a leader of the Awami National Party (ANP), was shot dead along with another person in KP's Bajaur tribal district by unknown persons, the chief minister's office said. English language newspaper Dawn quoted police as saying that the politician was shot dead in Bajaur's Shindai Mor while campaigning for a peace parade scheduled for July 13 when he was attacked. ANP spokesperson Ihsan Ullah paid tribute to Khan, saying he frequently spoke out against militants and was a key member of the party, serving as its central secretary of ulema affairs. 'Two people, including Maulana Khan Zeb, were killed in Bajaur in a firing incident by unidentified assailants,' KP Chief Minister's Office said in a statement, adding that Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur condemned the incident. The KP chief minister directed authorities to prepare a report on the incident and ordered immediate action against those responsible for Khan's killing. The incident takes place amid an alarming surge in militant attacks, especially in KP's tribal districts such as Bajaur, in recent years. Despite past military operations, recent attacks on security forces, clerics and politicians highlight growing instability in the area. No group has so far claimed responsibility for the incident. However, suspicion is likely to fall on the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) outfit that has launched some of the deadliest attacks targeting law enforcers, politicians and civilians since 2007. Pakistan says Afghanistan-based militant groups launch attacks inside Pakistani territory, a claim Kabul has strongly denied. Islamabad also blames New Delhi for funding and arming these militant groups, which India also denies.
Free Malaysia Today
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
Blast kills 4 Pakistani officials near border with Afghanistan
Pakistan has witnessed a sharp rise in violence in its regions bordering Afghanistan since 2021. (AFP pic) PESHAWAR : An explosion in northwest Pakistan today killed at least four local government officials and police officers, a police official told AFP. 'One senior government official, along with another government official and two police officers, were killed in the attack. Eleven people were wounded,' said Waqas Rafiq, a senior police official stationed in Bajaur, a city near the border with Afghanistan. The officials were travelling in a car when 'the attack happened in a market in Bajaur city', Rafiq added. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the blast. It came four days after 16 soldiers were killed in the province in an attack claimed by the Pakistan Taliban, a group which is very active in the area. Around 300 people, mostly security officials, have been killed in attacks since the start of the year by armed groups fighting the government in both Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces, according to an AFP tally. Last year was the deadliest in a decade for Pakistan, with a surge in attacks that killed more than 1,600 people, according to Islamabad-based analysis group the Center for Research and Security Studies. Pakistan has witnessed a sharp rise in violence in its regions bordering Afghanistan since the Taliban returned to power in Kabul in 2021, with Islamabad accusing its western neighbour of allowing its soil to be used for attacks against Pakistan – a claim the Taliban denies.
Arab News
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Blast claimed by Daesh kills four in northwest Pakistan
PESHAWAR: An explosion in northwest Pakistan killed at least four local government officials and police Wednesday, an officer told AFP, in an attack claimed by a branch of the Daesh group. 'One senior government official, along with another government official and two police officers, were killed in the attack. Eleven people were wounded,' said Waqas Rafiq, a senior police official stationed in Bajaur, a city near the border with Afghanistan. The officials were traveling in a car in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province when 'the attack happened in a market in Bajaur city,' Rafiq added. Hours later the IS-K group of Daesh claimed to have detonated an explosives-laden moped that targeted the vehicle in which the officials were traveling. The deadly blast came four days after 16 soldiers were killed in the same province in an attack claimed by the Pakistan Taliban, a group which is very active in the area. Around 300 people, mostly security officials, have been killed in attacks since the start of the year by armed groups fighting the government in both Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces, according to an AFP tally. Last year was the deadliest in a decade for Pakistan, with a surge in attacks that killed more than 1,600 people, according to Islamabad-based analysis group the Center for Research and Security Studies. Pakistan has witnessed a sharp rise in violence in its regions bordering Afghanistan since the Taliban returned to power in Kabul in 2021, with Islamabad accusing its western neighbor of allowing its soil to be used for attacks against Pakistan — a claim the Taliban denies.
Khaleej Times
02-07-2025
- Politics
- Khaleej Times
Pakistan: Bomb blast targets government vehicle, kills 5
A bomb explosion in Pakistan's Bajaur district's Khar tehsil on Wednesday killed at least five people, including an assistant commissioner, and injured 11 others. The blast targeted a government vehicle on Nawagai Road, causing significant damage, Dawn reported. Bajaur District Police Officer Waqas Rafique confirmed that five people, including two policemen and a civilian, were killed in the explosion targeting a government vehicle on Nawagai Road in Siddiqabad railway attack area of Khar tehsil. According to Dawn, the victims include Nawagai Assistant Commissioner Faisal Ismail, Tehsildar Abdul Wakil, Subedar Noor Hakim, police constable Rashid, and one civilian. "The blast was so intense that the vehicle targeted was destroyed," he said. Security has been increased in the area, and relief activities are underway. The injured have been taken to Khar Hospital for treatment, where an emergency has been imposed. KP Health Adviser Ihtisham Ali strongly condemned the blast and expressed grief over the loss of lives. He contacted the district health officer and the medical superintendent of the District Headquarters Hospital in Khar Bajaur and inquired about the well-being of those injured in the attack, as per Dawn. "An emergency has been imposed in Bajaur hospitals, and health department staff have been alerted for first aid," he said. The health adviser assured the pubic that medical assistance would be provided to the injured. KP Inspector General of Police (IG) Zulfiqar Hameed sought a report on the blast from the Malakand regional police officer (RPO). He also ordered to speed up intelligence-based operations against the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group and directed the Counter-Terrorism Department's additional inspector general of police to send a special team to Bajaur. "A special branch is obtaining intelligence related to the incident," Hameed said, adding that according to initial information, the TTP targeted the assistant commissioner's vehicle. Hameed said that teams were formed "to arrest the elements involved in the incident while all necessary evidence is being collected from the spot", adding that bomb disposal teams were present on site.
Arab News
02-07-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Roadside bomb kills assistant commissioner, four others in northwest Pakistan
PESHAWAR: A senior administration official and two police personnel were among five people killed in a roadside blast in Pakistan's northwestern Bajaur district on Wednesday, police confirmed, in yet another suspected militant attack in the country's tribal region bordering Afghanistan. The improvised explosive device (IED) targeted the vehicle of Assistant Commissioner Faisal Sultan, a top local administrator, near Meena Ground in Khar, Bajaur's district headquarters, according to a senior police officer in the area. 'An IED bomb blast targeted the vehicle of the Assistant Commissioner of Nawagai,' District Police Officer Waqas Rafiq told Arab News over the phone. 'As a result of the blast, four government officials and a civilian were martyred.' Sharing the details, Rafiq said Sultan died in the blast along with Tehsildar Wakeel Khan, police constable Rasheed, Levies official Noor Hakeem and an unidentified civilian. Eleven others were also injured and shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital in Khar, he added. No group has claimed responsibility so far, though suspicion is likely to fall on Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which has a history of carrying out attacks on police and security personnel, government functionaries and civilians in the northwestern regions. Militant violence has surged in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in recent years, particularly in the tribal districts. Bajaur, which is one of these districts, has also remained prone to militant attacks in the past, especially during the period when US and NATO forces were active across the border after the 9/11 attacks. Last week, 13 Pakistani soldiers were killed in a suicide bombing on a military convoy in Mir Ali, North Waziristan. The country's army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, visited the site and later attended the funeral prayers for the slain troops, vowing retribution.
