Ex-AJK PM survives bid on life

Former Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) prime minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas survived an armed attack on his convoy in Palandri on Friday, however, his bodyguard was killed while protecting him, and several of his associates sustained injuries.

Sardar Tanveer, who is also the Azad Jammu and Kashmir President of the Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP), was travelling to his constituency, LA-22 Poonch-5, for election campaign when armed men, after blocking the road, opened fire on his motorcade.

"His convoy had just entered Azad Kashmir from Rawalpindi and was about one to one-and-a-half kilometres inside the territory when armed men blocked the road near Union Council Tain (Dhalkot) and opened direct fire on his vehicle," a source said.

"During the attack, his security guard, Sardar Asif Yousaf, was shot in the head while shielding the former prime minister. He was rushed to the District Hospital in Kotli Sattian but later succumbed to his injuries," the source added.

According to reports, the deceased guard belonged to Kotera Gorah, Palandri, and had recently retired. The report further stated that former special assistant to the AJK prime minister Sardar Imtiaz Shaheen and several other members of the entourage were also injured in the attack.

Later, Sardar Tanveer released a video statement outside the hospital. He said the entire region was being held hostage by a handful of vested interests who had blocked roads under the false pretext of a flour shortage.

"Those behind the violence are pursuing the agenda of India and RAW (Research and Analysis Wing)," he alleged, questioning what offence his guard had committed to warrant his killing.

Demanding that the security forces launch a large-scale operation against those responsible for the attack, Sardar Tanveer said the state could not allow itself to be "hijacked" or permit the lives of ordinary citizens to remain paralysed.

"Any attack will be met with a stronger response," the former prime minister said. "Repeated efforts were made in the past to engage them in dialogue and reconciliation, but they no longer deserve any concessions," he added.