A roadside bomb killed a local religious leader and two other people in Dera Ismail Khan on Monday, officials said, in the latest attack since the army began an operation to clear militants from their stronghold. Faqir Jamshed, a victim of the bomb attack, was in his mid-fifties and considered a "saint" by his followers and belonged to the Sufi order of Islam.
He contested last year's general election as an independent candidate from Dera Ismail Khan. However, INP new agency said Faqir Jamshed was a leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and has remained a member of provincial assembly elected independently from Dera Ismail Khan. Police said an improvised explosive device planted on the road exploded as Jamshed's car passed near the village of Maddi, just outside Dera Ismail Khan.
"Faqir Jamshed, his driver and guard were killed in the blast," district police chief Sadiq Baloch told AFP. Another police official, Tikka Khan, confirmed the incident and the casualties. Baloch said that Jamshed might have been targeted by Taliban militants for being a Sufi saint.