Seventeen persons were killed and 50 injured in terrorist attacks on convoys of JUI-F candidate in Hangu district and a PPP candidate in Dir Lower. The first incident occurred in Doaba Bazaar of Hangu district on the convoy of the JUI-F candidate for a provincial assembly constituency, PK-43, Mufti Said Janan. The convoy was on its way to Tal, a nearby town.
A suicide bomber approached his vehicle and detonated his explosive vest. While Mufti Said remained unhurt, 12 people and 20 other were injured. The injured were rushed to hospitals in Hangu, Doaba and Tal where several of them are stated to be in critical conditions. This was the second consecutive attack on JUI election rallies. On Monday, another JUI-F election rally was attacked in Sewak in Kurram Agency.
The second incident occurred in Baba Gam area of tehsil Maidan in Lower Dir district on the convoy of the brother of a PPP candidate from PK-96, Zahir Shah. The explosion also occurred near his vehicle. As a result of the explosion, five persons were killed while 10 others were injured. A day ago, two persons were injured in an explosion near the election office of another PPP candidate in the Shabqadar area in Charsadda district.
Meanwhile, Governor Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Engineer Shaukatullah has condemned both the attacks and described them as heinous crimes. Expressing sympathies with members of the bereaved families, the Governor said that elements involved in these inhuman acts would not escape punishment.