Shibli escapes unscathed in ‘assassination attempt’

Federal Minister for Science and Technology Shibli Faraz on Sunday narrowly escaped an assassination attempt near Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Darra Adamkhel area, leaving his driver and guard injured.  He was returning from his hometown Kohat, where he had gone in connection with local government elections.

The minister, while talking to The Express Tribune, said that roughly 30 to 40 people carrying “black flags attacked his vehicle and opened fire” at him shortly after he left Kohat in the evening. However, while refuting the account given by the police, he maintained that he, along with those who accompanied him, not only heard the gunshots being fired at them but also saw the gunshot flames when the group attacked his vehicle “after checking the number plate”.

“I have spoken to the high-ups and questioned as to what led them to conjecture that there was no attack.” “The first few minutes were extremely difficult but we are grateful to God that we survived the attack. It is an ideal case of being at the wrong place at the wrong time,” Faraz added while sharing the details of the incident.

The police had earlier said that the attackers only pelted stones at the minister’s vehicle but he was swiftly taken out of the danger and moved to Peshawar. While refraining from identifying the assailants, Faraz said that the locals and the police might know "the people who carry black flags”. “For us, it was a relief that we came out of the attack and reached Peshawar,” Faraz said, saying his driver and the guard were better now.

Asked whether an FIR was lodged after the incident, he said that escaping the attack and the area was his first priority at the time the attack took place, adding no case has so far been registered with the police. Earlier, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry also said Faraz's car had been fired upon in Darra Adamkhel. He said while Faraz had remained safe in the incident, his driver had been taken to hospital with critical injuries.

"[We] strongly condemn this attack," Chaudhry tweeted. Minister for Interior Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed also condemned the attack and summoned a report on the incident from the K-P’s police chief.

LG polls in K-P marred by violence

Apart from the attack on the science minister, other incidents of violence, including a suicide attack, marred the local government elections in 17 districts of K-P.

At least two people were killed and three others sustained injuries in a firing incident at a polling station in the Takht-e-Nasarati Tehsil of the Karak district. The polling was subsequently stopped after the situation turned chaotic. One of the deceased was a paternal cousin of PTI's MNA Shahid Khattak, while the other was his bodyguard. According to the eyewitnesses, the assailants fled the scene after opening fire at the polling station.

Speaking to media, Bajour’s District Police Officer Abdul Samad Khan confirmed that the blast that took place in the Kamarsar area was indeed a suicide attack, saying two men identified as Liaquat Khan and Muhammad Rehman were killed while six others, including Umair, Younas, Zaid, Mashooq, Imran and Saad, got injured. The locals said that the vehicle, which was attacked, belonged to the Awami National Party (ANP) and was being used for giving pick and drop to the voters.

According to the locals, the local government elections were marred by acute mismanagement, lamenting that lack of security was the biggest issue. Apart from shooting and scuffles, they said, ballot boxes were broken down and ballot papers were set on fire in some areas. Meanwhile, in Charsaddam a man was wounded after unknown individuals opened fire outside a polling station.

Violence was also reported from Zakhakhel area of the Khyber tribal district, where unidentified individuals entered a polling station and broke ballot boxes.