BAJAUR: Two people, including Awami National Party (ANP) leader Maulana Khan Zaib, were killed on Thursday in a shooting near the Khar Tehsil headquarters in Bajaur.
The ANP leader was shot dead while campaigning for the July 13 peace movement, according to the Bajaur District Police Officer (DPO) Waqas Rafiq.
Furthermore, the senior police official added that the firing also injured three of Maulana’s associates who were shifted to the hospital.
Maulana Zaib was the head of ANP’s Ulema Council and a former National Assembly candidate.
Following the killing, ANP workers and citizens staged a protest, which ended moments later. In a post on X, ANP President Senator Aimal Wali Khan expressed grief over the attack. In the post, he uploaded a picture with the slain politician, writing: “Devastated”.
ANP Khyber Pakhtunkhwa President Mian Iftikhar Hussain condemned the assassination attack on Maulana Zaib, announcing that the party would observe three days of mourning.
He further stated that leader’s killing was a clear proof that terrorists are once again given free hand in the region while state institutions watch in complete silence.
Maulana’s funeral prayer would be held tomorrow at 11am in Nawagai, according to the district president of ANP.
Adviser to KP CM on Information Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif said Maulana Zaib’s killers would be brought to justice soon, adding that the murder was an attack on peace.
Last week, five people, including Assistant Commissioner Nawagai Faisal Ismail, were martyred in a deadly blast in Tehsil Khar of Bajaur district.
This attack also claimed the lives of Tehsildar Abdul Wakeel, two police officials and a passerby. In addition, 11 others, including five police personnel, sustained injuries and were shifted to nearby medical facilities for treatment. –Agencies
