Police pre-empt attack on CM Hoti, seize weapons

Mian Iftikhar says he and his party are being targeted by terrorists.

PESHAWAR: A truck carrying a huge cache of arms and explosives was intercepted by Hangu police on Monday amid suspicions that it was being primed for use in a possible assassination bid on Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s Chief Minister Amir Haider Hoti. The chief minister is currently touring the district.

District Police Officer Dr Mian Saeed told The Express Tribune that a truck, on its way from the volatile Kurram Agency, was stopped during a routine check-up in Hangu. When police officials searched the truck they recovered arms and explosives hidden inside.

Saeed said the cache include 90kg of explosives, 20,000 rounds of 303 bore ammunition, 10 AK-47s and 10 rifles, adding that one accused had been arrested.

“I would like to keep the name of the accused secret but he belongs to Akakhel, Khyber Agency. During initial investigation, he has revealed that he was on his way to Peshawar but targeting of the chief minister cannot be ruled out,” Saeed said, adding that the accused was being interrogated. Later, the driver of the truck was identified as Qaiser, son of Momin and a resident of Bara-Khyber Agency

Meanwhile, during a press briefing at the Officer Mess in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provincial Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said that the Awami National Party (ANP) was targeted through terrorist acts throughout the country and cited that the party members were targeted in Karachi as well as in Balochistan

He said that even today (Monday) a truck with a cache containing explosives and weapons was busted by law enforcement personnel near Hangu, where the chief minister was addressing a public gathering

“I myself have been informed in writing not to go to Nowshera as a suicide bomber and a target killer are after me”, Mian Iftikhar said, adding that so far around 650 ANP members have been killed in the wake of law and order in the country.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 17^th, 2012.