Unfortunately women in certain localities could not exercise their right to vote and in some cases were allegedly manipulated to vote at the behest of candidates. Ban for women voters also surfaced at certain localities at the eleventh hour.

However, when the final results turn up, by their presence or their absence, women voters would have directly contributed to the next Government of Pakistan.

NA-1 Peshawar-I

The turnout in NA-1 was in the thousands. This was especially significant as women were seen forming long queues outside polling stations – even in areas such as Shaikhabad, Zagarabad, Afrido Garhi and Rasheedabad where women were usually not allowed to step out of their homes.

Voting slowed down substantially at the polling station at Faqirabad Government College as the presiding officer did not show up. Women who were not on the same list as the rest of their family members (a common complaint) tended to not go out on their own to vote.

Many political parties had been predicting the female vote could be a game changer for poll outcomes. NA-1 might be one area where this might be an actual possibility.

NA-2 Peshawar-II

Men in five villages on the outskirts of Peshawar did not ‘allow’ women to vote as per “local tradition”. Landi Bala, Landi Payan, Sangu, Achini and Haji Banda lie adjacent to Shalober, Khyber Agency and women polling stations there remained deserted throughout Election Day.

All five lie within NA-2 and PK-6. Their inhabitants proudly claim women have not been allowed to cast votes in any election in the history of the villages.

Local elder and former nazim Wahidullah Khan told The Express Tribune previously, villagers would unanimously decide not to allow female participation in elections, but this year no such decision was taken. However, women still did not turn up to vote.

Awami National Party (ANP) representative Shaukat Khan expressed a similar opinion. “It is not our tradition (women voting) and I think people respect it.”

Rahmat Ali, another elder, disagreed. He pointed out “nearly all surrounding villages let women vote” because not doing so was “against the local tradition.”

There were approximately 1,500 females registered to vote in the list provided by the Election Commission Pakistan (ECP) to the Landi Bala polling station. “Not a single vote has been cast,” said the polling officer who had been there since 6am.

Locals observed the turnout for male voters was ‘record; but nothing new for women voters.’

NA-4 Peshawar-IV

The constituency showed strength of force in the face of threats by those claiming voting was ‘anti-Islam’ and thronged to polling stations to vote.

In addition to the expected male voters, a surprisingly large number of women turned up to cast their ballots. This was short-lived as after 11am female polling was banned at a majority of stations with the consent of political parties.

“I did not allow my wife to visit the polling station due to Taliban threats. But I was in a state of shock after seeing a number of women casting their vote,” a voter from Pasanni village at the NA-4/PK-10 polling station bordering Frontier Region Peshawar told The Express Tribune over the phone, requesting anonymity.

Women turned up in large numbers at the Government Higher Secondary School in Badhaber – to the point that the army was called in to quell fights.  Frontier Constabulary and the police were already present in large numbers and were found unnecessarily crowding the stations.

According to voters, a fight broke out between ANP and the Pakistan Peoples Party workers, at which point the candidates arrived to intervene, making things worse. The army eventually dispersed the media and the extraneous men to take control of the situation, after which polling stopped. Till the filing of this report, it could not be determined if polling resumed.

In Government Girls Primary School Garhi Qamardeen, PK-6, “only five females used their right to vote, while the others went back. I don’t know why, but people said political parties had agreed to prevent women from taking part in the elections,” said Shabana, the presiding officer.

While women voted at the Government Middle School Hazar Khwani, an undue influence of policemen could be noted in the female polling booth. They were seen scolding women, ferrying them inside booths and crowding entrances.

Consequently, polling stopped midway, amidst accusations of the ANP interfering because of a perceived Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) victory.

Elsewhere in K-P

In NA-11 Mardan-III, male voters at two polling stations at the Government Middle School Surhabai-Rustam decided not to allow women to cast ballots at the combined station.

There were reports of brawls at NA-12 Swabi-I, which broke out following frequent visits by a candidate to the women’s polling station.

Polling booths were shifted without notice at the eleventh hour from Government Girls Primary School to a high school in another locality. Stuck without transport, many women voters had to turn back without voting.

In a last minute decision, women voters were barred from casting ballots in Paharkhel, NA-27 Lakki Marwat. It was a call made by tribal elders headed by Sharifullah and Goharzad.

Men forcefully stopped women from casting votes in various villages in NA-28 Buner. “In Dherai, Malakpur and Matwanai, elders unanimously decided not to allow women to cast votes. The decision was accepted by all political parties too,” said Shaukat Yousafzai, a local reporter.

Reports indicated women were not allowed to vote in Nogram. However, polling went smoothly in the rest of Buner where men and women participated enthusiastically.

In Frontier Region (FR) Peshawar, not a single woman turned up, despite announcements made by the administration urging females to cast their votes.

Across Swat (NA-29 and NA-30), women were seen participating, in spite of issues reported in many tehsils.

In Kabal and Matta, workers and political agents of certain political parties reportedly forced women to vote in their favour. After voters complained, the army was called in to streamline the polling process, according to Fazal Wadood, a resident of Kabal.

Turnout in many female polling stations was very low, but for the first time in history, all the female polling stations were functional and had women polling.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 12^th, 2013.

PESHAWAR: Raj Mohummad, a Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) candidate for NA-39 constituency in Orakzai Agency, survived an attack on his vehicle on Saturday, officials said.

Muhammad was on his election campaign in the lower Orakzai Agency area when his vehicle hit an Improvised Explosive Device (IED).

“Muhammad remained unhurt in the incident,” said an official of the political administration.

“Raj Muhammad was on his way from Chengana to Ferozkhel when a bomb planted on the roadside went off destroying his vehicle,” the official added.

In a separate incident, an election office of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was attacked around 5:30am on the Pajjagi Road in Peshawar, a police official told The Express Tribune.

“It was a timed device weighing around two kilogrammes that damaged the PTI office along with a few nearby shops,” the police official added.

“The gate and a few chairs were damaged in the blast but nobody was hurt because office was empty at that time,” Khalid Mehmood, a senior police official, told AFP.

This was the first attack on a PTI office in Peshawar.

Official reports state that there have been 48 bomb blasts in April across Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), including three suicide attacks. “Sixty-four people have been killed while 263 have been injured,” said the report.

Official sources also said that four schools have been destroyed, some of which were expected to serve as polling stations in the upcoming general elections.

PESHAWAR: Militants attacked the Sheikh Muhammadi grid station on the outskirts of Peshawar on Monday night, killing two people at the spot and kidnapping nine others.

Out of the nine people kidnapped, the militants killed three policemen and two security guards on Tuesday while the four others, who were officers at the grid station, remained in their custody. The four officers were SDO Fahim Khan, STO Shoaib Rabbani, SOS Faisal Bari and SSO Zeeshan.

The militants fired at least 15 rockets at the grid station from the Sheikh Muhammadi village. They entered the building, held the staff and police guards hostage and planted several remote-controlled bombs inside the grid station.

The attack damaged the grid station, resulting in disruption of power supply to several parts of the city and areas in the tribal belt.

Due to the powerful explosion, fire erupted inside the grid station engulfing the machinery and transformers. The control room of the grid was completely destroyed.

“I could see the towers and transformers on fire and we have found two bodies so far but it is a vast area and due to darkness we are facing difficulty in searching for dead and injured,” an activist of the Masho Gagar Aman Lashker Mukamal Shah said while talking to The Express Tribune.

He further said that militants fired multiple rockets at the grid from a distance first and then entered it.

The fire fighters reached the area and tried to control the fire but their efforts went in vain.

Police started a search operation around the grid but the militants had escaped by then, an official of the Badabher police station told The Express Tribune. He further said that local people rushed to the site and helped police in the rescue operation.

“Few people are still missing and we are looking for them,” the official said. Boundary wall of the grid station also collapsed and the barbed wires had been found cut, he further added.

“We have found two caps of policemen but they are not there which means that either they have escaped or have been kidnapped by the militants,” he said.

Some of the bombs did not explode and Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) was called in to defuse them.

An explosion near Yunus Park in Peshawar left at least two people wounded.

The blast reportedly took place outside an arms dealership.

The building above the arms dealer houses the Peoples Labour office for Peshawar, an office affiliated with the Pakistan Peoples Party.

Many cars were damaged and windows of shops in the vicinity were shattered by the blast.

Rescue efforts were underway.

This is the second blast on Wednesday targetting the PPP or its related offices in Peshawar.

Earlier in the evening, a small intensity explosive device went off near the house of PPP leader Akbar Khan Mohmand on Shami Road.

The blast had damaged the boundary wall of the house. An official of the local police told The Express Tribune that no one had been injured and only a section of the wall had been damaged.

The blast occurred in Meena Bazaar, a busy shopping area, as worshipers were offering afternoon prayers. “The death toll rose to six after a blast victim died of his wounds in hospital,” SP Peshawar city Khalid Hamdani told The Express Tribune.

Among the dead was the chief cleric of the mosque, Qari Syed Hussain Shah, who belongs to the Barelvi school of thought.

Another police official, Imran Shahid said the bomb was planted inside the mosque. There were up to 40 people in the mosque at the time of the blast, he added.

“There was dust and smoke everywhere and I lost consciousness soon after,” Muhammad Irfan, who was also wounded in the blast, told The Express Tribune.

Another injured eyewitness, Fayaz, said an unidentified man had placed a shopping bag in front of the prayer leader minutes before the afternoon prayers began, subsequently excusing himself for ablution. “I was lucky to survive the blast because I was in the second row,” he said.

The injured were taken to the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH).

“We have four dead and 29 injured. Four of them are a critical,” said Arshad Javed, the hospital’s chief executive officer, adding that an emergency had been declared at the hospital, where at least four victims were said to be in a critical condition.

Assistant Inspector General (AIG) Special Branch Shafqat Malik told The Express Tribune that four to five kilogrammes of explosives were used in the homemade bomb which was remotely detonated.

The Masjid-e-Chushtia Hanfia mosque is located in the densely populated Mohalla Baqar Shah area of Peshawar. Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf condemned the bombing and said “such acts of terror cannot weaken the nation’s resolve to wipe out terrorism from our society,” an official statement said. (Additional input from AFP)

Published in The Express Tribune, March 10^th, 2013.

Political Agent Mutahir Zeb was unhurt but his deputy, Assistant Political Agent Khalid Mumtaz Khundi, was wounded in the attack that was not immediately claimed by any militant group.

According to police, two bombers, dressed as Levies personnel, first opened fire at the gate of the PA office located on Bara Road in the garrison area, killing and injuring some guards. Then they entered the building and a gunfight erupted.

“One of the bombers blew himself up when hit by bullets. The other, however, managed to reach the control room, destroying the building and the adjacent office,” SSP Operation Imran Shaid told The Express Tribune. 

Before detonating his bomb, one of the attackers tried to break into the part of the building where Additional Political Agent Attaur Rehman was presiding over a meeting of tribal politicians.

Jamil Shah, spokesman for the Lady Reading Hospital, said five people were killed and seven others admitted with serious injuries. Four security officials – Bakhatar, Barkat Dad, Hakimullah and Misri Khan – and an unidentified civilian were among the dead, he added.

APA Khundi was driven to the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) for the treatment of his wounds.

Office-bearers of all political parties in Khyber Agency were discussing preparations for the next general election when the complex reverberated with heavy gunfire, Shah Hussain Shinwari, the president of ANP’s Khyber Agency chapter, told The Express Tribune.

“The firing continued for 15 minutes, after which we heard two loud explosions,” said Shinwari. “Within 20 minutes, army troops reached the spot, cordoned off the complex and started searching for the attackers’ bodies.”

Muhammad Iqbal Afridi, the local leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, said the militants also hurled some grenades. “Security forces evacuated us from the building. While leaving, I saw two dead bodies and blood everywhere,” he told AFP.

“We have found two bodies in pieces. The bombers were about 20-years old and armed with automatic rifles as well as suicide vests,” said AIG Special Branch Sahfqat Malik who is also the head of the Bomb Disposal Squad. He added that the bombers were carrying up to eight kilos of explosives.

The meeting participants believe they were not the target. “It is easier for militants to target our public rallies than break into our offices. They were definitely looking for something else,” said one of the participants.

The complex contains the PA office, police cells to detain suspected militants, and residential quarters. And there were reports that attackers were trying to reach the detention cells where suspects are held.

It was the second high-profile terrorist attack in three days. On February 15, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti escaped a suicide attack in his hometown of Mardan. The outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the attack.

The group had also claimed the December 22 assassination of senior provincial minister Bashir Bilour in a suicide bombing at a political meeting in Peshawar.  (With additional input from Agencies)

Published in The Express Tribune, February 19^th, 2013.

PESHAWAR: Suicide bombers attacked the offices of a top official in Peshawar on Monday, killing five people in the latest high-profile attack as the country prepares to hold elections.

Mutahir Zeb, the government’s representative in the semi-autonomous tribal district of Khyber, escaped unhurt but his deputy was wounded in the attack on the sprawling compound.

There was no claim of responsibility.

Five people were killed and seven others seriously wounded when two suicide bombers blew themselves up at the complex, which contains Zeb’s office, cells where police detain suspected militants and residential quarters, officials said.

“There were two suicide bombers. One blew himself up at the gate and the other inside the control room of the main office,” said Peshawar bomb disposal chief Shafqat Malik.

“They were carrying up to eight kilos of explosives. Security officials have cleared the main office and a search is still going on in the residential area,” Malik added. Witnesses had said there were three attackers who were wearing Levies uniforms.

Zeb’s deputy, Khalid Mumtaz Kundi, who had been visiting from Khyber was wounded and evacuated to a military hospital, officials said.

Jamal Shah, spokesman for Lady Reading Hospital, said seven people had been admitted with serious injuries.

He said four security officials and a civilian aged around 60 were killed.

Some officials suggested the militants staged the attack to free detainees and unconfirmed reports indicated that some prisoners may have escaped.

Muhammad Iqbal Afridi, local leader in the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), said he heard heavy gunfire.

“We were inside the office when we heard gun shots. Suddenly firing started and then they hurled some grenades,” Afridi told AFP.

“Then there was intense exchange of firing between the militants and the security forces. Later, security forces evacuated us from the building. While leaving, I saw two dead bodies and blood everywhere,” he added.

“We were holding a meeting and some others were joining us when firing started inside the political compound, and then there was a heavy blast, and again heavy firing began,” said tribal politician Niaz Ahmad Khan.

“We were told by the officials to take shelter inside the office as the terrorists had attacked the political compound.”

He said he saw two bodies and some injured people lying on the ground inside the compound.

Security forces conducted a search operation in the buildings and evacuated them after the firing stopped. Forensic evidence was also collected from the site.

The LI militants fled after taking Lobia Gul, his sons Irfan and Hazrat Hussain, and their guests Ibad Khan and Noor Hussain, residents said.

“They did not face any resistance and abducted the men,” said a local elder, requesting anonymity. The kidnapped men belong to Zaka Khel Afridi tribe from Bara, but were living in Mera Balarzai since the past few years.

“Militants warned the women that all five would be put to death immediately if any FIR was registered or the police informed,” added the elder.

A  Badhaber police official said no one had filed an FIR as yet.

Residents said the entire area has been gripped by fear after four people were killed in the middle of the night two weeks ago. Those executed were active members of the local peace militia and the Mufti Mehbobul Haq-led militants, Ansarul Islam, who are currently fighting the Mangal Bagh-led LI for the control of Tirah valley, Khyber Agency.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 7^th, 2013.

An elder from the Hassan Khel clan said the political administration had mishandled the issue and is directly responsible for the tragic incident.  “As a protest measure we have decided not to attend jirga meetings called by the political authorities unless concrete steps are taken.  Our first step in this direction was to boycott a high-level meeting held on Monday.”

He added that instead of taking concrete steps for their protection following the kidnapping of 23 people, the government was they were pressurising tribesmen by using the notorious collective responsibility clause of the Frontier Crimes Regulation against them.

A political administration official told The Express Tribune that a meeting of tribal elders and maliks had been called on Monday, but they did not attend it for reasons that were not known to officials.

“We decided in a jirga earlier that the only way to deal with the political authorities’ high handedness is to stay away from official meetings. We are committed to making this boycott a real success,” a tribal elder said.

Meanwhile, 60 families from Bazargai and Shamelay villages of Hassan Khel migrated to the settled district following widespread panic in the area.

Policemen injured in grenade attack

In Swabi, three policemen were injured when unidentified militants hurled a hand grenade at them in the crowded Link Road bazaar.

According to Swabi SHO Izhar Shah, four policemen were on a routine patrol in the bazaar at approximately 9am when a hand grenade, thrown from an unknown direction, exploded near them.

He said police rushed to the site and shifted the injured to District Headquarter Hospital, where doctors found their condition to be stable. An FIR has been registered against unknown militants.

Landi Kotal

In a separate attack, a pedestrian was killed and two others were injured in a roadside bomb explosion in Bukarh area of Landikotal.

An official of the Bukarh political administration Saz Muhammad said three unidentified tribesmen were on their way to Bukarh from Shan Khel when a bomb planted by suspected militants was detonated. One tribesman was killed on the spot, while two were injured.

In Bukarh, members of Tauheedul Islam are engaged with militants of Lashkar-e-Islam led by Mangal Bagh Afridi, in efforts to gain control of the area. Most clashes between the two groups are over territorial disputes.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 9^th, 2013.

At least eight other people – including Bilour’s secretary and a local police official – were also killed in a suicide  attack that took place during a political meeting of the ANP in the Dhaki Nalbandi neighbourhood of Peshawar.

Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) officials said a suicide bomber detonated the explosives strapped to his body when the meeting was at its peak and dozens of people were vowing allegiance to the ANP.

“The bomber walked into the house where the meeting was ongoing and detonated his vest,” said Additional Inspector General of Police Shafqat Malik, who heads the BDS.

Police said around 100 people had gathered for the meeting when the suicide bomber blew himself up. “The bomber reached very close to Bilour,” senior police officer Asif Iqbal told AFP.

However, witnesses differed. “The meeting had ended and Bilour was leaving the venue when supporters gathered around him. It was at this point that the bomber struck,” Hameed Jan, the vice president of ANP Peshawar chapter, told The Express Tribune.

Seven people, including Bilour’s personal secretary Haji Noor and SHO Sattar Khattak, died on the spot while the ANP leader was critically injured with 17 others, said Haji Imtiaz, the deputy superintendent of police (DSP).

Bilour was driven to the Lady Reading Hospital (LHR), where medics performed a series of surgeries but could not resuscitate him.

“Bashir has embraced martyrdom,” his brother Ghulam Ahmed Bilour, the federal minister for railways, told stunned ANP workers at the LRH. However, he appealed for calm.

Bilour had “wounds to the chest and stomach. We tried our best to save his life” but he died during surgery, said Dr Arshad Javed, the chief executive officer of the LRH. He added that when Bilour was brought to the hospital he had already suffered a cardiac arrest.

The explosion itself wreaked widespread damage in the congested, downtown neighbourhood, where several shops and vehicles were damaged. Scenes of chaos were witnessed soon after as people scrambled to search for their loved ones among the casualties.

According to BDS official Abdul Haq, the bomber carried four kilogrammes of explosives in his suicide vest. Police found the severed head and other limbs of the bomber who appeared to be in his mid-teens. Akhtar, a shopkeeper, said he was in his shop when the bomber struck. “I saw Bilour surrounded by supporters. Suddenly, there was an ear-splitting explosion and I was thrown out of my chair by the impact,” he told The Express Tribune.

Akhtar added that he rushed out to find dead and injured people lying in pools of blood. “Human limbs littered the place and blood was all over,” he recalled. Soon afterwards, police, rescuers and residents rushed to the spot to shift the casualties to hospitals.

The Darra Adam Khel and Khyber Agency chapter of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack. “The attack was carried out by what he called Shuba-e-Intiqam (Dawn of Revenge). We are at war with the ANP which is against our religion,” the group’s spokesperson, Muhammad, told The Express Tribune in a telephone call from an undisclosed location.  He claimed that the slain senior police officers, Sifwat Ghayoor, Kalam Khan and Khurshid, were also targeted by his group.

It was the third attack on Bilour. On November 11, 2008, a suicide bomber blew himself up at the gate of Qayyum Stadium in Peshawar Saddar when the ANP leader was leaving the place after attending the closing ceremony of inter-provincial games. Bilour remained unhurt in the attack that had killed three people.

On March 11, 2009, there was an abortive suicide attack on Bilour in the Namak Mandi neighbourhood of Peshawar. The bomber was challenged by the police before he could detonate his explosives. The bomber fled police firing and blew himself up in a nearby house, killing six people.

The provincial government has announced three days of mourning across the province. Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, meanwhile, announced one-day state mourning for Bilour. The national flag will also fly at half mast. The Sindh government also announced a day of mourning. Provincial Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said that the funeral prayers for the slain ANP leader will be offered at 2pm on Sunday at Colonel Sher Khan Shaheed Stadium, Peshawar.

April 5, 2010

50 killed in a suicide bomb blast in Timergara, Lower Dir

May 28, 2011

Matta tehsil ANP President Muzaffar Ali Khan along with a Policeman and a guest were killed when unidentified militants attacked his Hujra at Matta tehsil in Swat

November 7, 2011

Three people, including a former ANP tehsil Nazim, were killed and nine people were injured in a suicide attack in the Malikabad area of Swabi

February 27, 2012

At least five people lost their lives, while 27 others sustained injuries when a bomb went off after an ANP rally ended in Nowshera.

March, 5 2012

At least seven people were injured when unidentified assailants opened fire on the crowd gathered at an ANP welcome rally in Karachi.

December 10, 2012

Eight people were injured in a bomb blast near the venue of a public rally of the ANP in Charsadda

December 22, 2012

A bomb blast in the Qissa Khawani Bazaar area of Peshawar killed Senior Minister Bashir Ahmed Bilour along with eight others

Published in The Express Tribune, December 23^rd, 2012.