Abortive attempt: Sherpao escapes fourth suicide attack in eight years

No group claimed responsibility for the attack that left three persons dead

PESHAWAR: Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao, a former interior minister and chief of the Qaumi Watan Party (QWP), survived a suicide attack Thursday in the Umarzai village of Charsadda district. It was the fourth suicide attack on Sherpao over the past eight years. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing that left three persons – including the bomber and a policeman – dead and two others injured.

The QWP chief’s son, Sikandar Hayat Khan Sherpao, told The Express Tribune that the bomber struck moments after they left the venue of a public meeting organised in connection with the death anniversary of the party’s slain MPA Alamzeb Umarzai. “Our convoy was hardly 500 yards away from the  venue when a man opened fire before blowing himself up,” said Sikandar.

The policemen standing guard at the venue challenged the bomber and shot him before he could approach Sherpao’s vehicle. However, he managed to detonate the explosives strapped to his body. “Policemen fired at the bomber when he moved towards the convoy but he blew himself up,” DPO Shafiullah Khan told AFP.

Another police official claimed that some gunshots were also fired after the abortive suicide attack. Sherpao, who was secured by the police and driven to his residence, said it was the fourth attempt on his life. “I was the target of this attack. This is the fourth attack on my life. The policemen sacrificed themselves to save me,” he told AFP.

The first attack on Sherpao took place on April 29, 2007 when he was addressing a public meeting in the Station Koroona area of Charsadda. Months later, he came under another suicide attack targeting an Eid congregation in his village mosque. Then on March 3, 2012, another suicide attacker targeted his vehicle.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif strongly condemned the suicide attack on Sherpao and sought a report into the incident. He also offered condolences to the families of the victims, according to an official statement.

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan called up Sherpao after the attack and enquired after his health. He paid tribute to the police constable who was killed in the attack and expressed sympathy with his heirs. The minister also sought a report from the provincial police chief into the incident.

The Pakhtunkhwa Civil Society Network also denounced the attack. In a joint statement, the network’s office-bearers expressed shock over the dastardly attack and paid rich tributes to the policeman who sacrificed his life in the incident.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 1^st, 2015.