Pro-govt tribal elder killed in bomb attack

BANNU:

A pro-government tribal elder was killed and his son injured on Sunday when a vehicle they were travelling in hit a roadside bomb near Bakakhel, about 150 kilometres south of Peshawar.

Malik Saeed Ali Khan Wazir of Bakkakhel, Frontier Region (FR) Bannu, had come to the local market along with his two sons, Abdur Rehman and Abid. When their vehicle reached a bridge near Tochi Nullah, a bomb was remotely detonated, police said.

Wazir and Rehman were severely injured in the explosion and were rushed to the district headquarters hospital and then to the Khalifa Gul Nawaz Hospital. Abid remained unhurt in the blast. Wazir later succumbed to his injuries at the hospital. Rehman was referred to a hospital in Peshawar where medics said his wounds were life-threatening.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the bomb attack but previous such attacks have been blamed on Taliban militants. Bannu borders North Waziristan Agency, where a massive operation against the Taliban has been ongoing since mid-June 2014.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 5^th, 2015.