22 July 2018•Update: 23 July 2018
By Islamuddin Sajid
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan
A suicide blast on Sunday targeted an election campaign convoy in the country’s northwestern Khyber Pakhunkhwa province, killing a candidate and his driver, and injuring five others.
“A suicide bomber blew himself up near the vehicle of Ikramullah Gandapur in Looni Darbar area of Dera Ismail Khan district, when he was on his way for an election rally in the area,” Zahoor Afridi, district police officer, told Anadolu Agency.
The candidate's driver was killed on the spot while Gandapur succumbed to his injuries in the hospital, Afridi added.
Gandapur, a former minister who was also a candidate of right-wing Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party of cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, was contesting for a provincial assembly seat in the country’s July 25 general election.
Israrullah Khan Gandapur, a younger brother of Gandapur and former law minister in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, was also killed in a suicide attack in 2013.
Also on Sunday, Akram Khan Durrani, former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister and a key leader of the five-party religious alliance Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, escaped an assassination attempt in Bannu district.
According to police, unknown gunmen opened fire at Durrani’s vehicle in Mandio area of Bannu, when he was on his way to attend a public gathering.
This was the second attack on Durrani in the last two weeks.
On July 13, militants targeted his convoy with an explosive-laden motorbike, killing at least five people and injuring another 30 in Bannu.
Durrani is contesting elections against Khan in Bannu.
More attacks
Twenty people were injured in a grenade attack when unknown attackers targeted the Balochistan Awami Party's (BAP) election office in Quetta, capital of southwestern Balochistan province, broadcaster Express News reported.
Security forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation after the incident.
The injured were shifted to a hospital.
This was the second attack on BAP in the last 10 days.
A separate grenade attack on the election office of PTI in North Waziristan district left 10 people injured.
No group has claimed responsibility for Sunday’s attacks. However, security agencies point fingers at Pakistani Taliban who have long been targeting the security agencies and civilians through suicide bombings.
On July 13, at least 140 people, including a candidate, were killed and over 150 injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up in election gathering in Balochistan.
A suicide blast at an election rally on July 10, in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's capital, killed 21 people including an election candidate.
