A remote-controlled bomb attack in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has killed five individuals, including former Senator Hidayatullah Khan. The incident occurred in the Bajaur district of Malakand Division on Thursday.
Local authorities report that the explosion targeted a vehicle carrying the former senator and his companions. The other victims have been identified as Malik Irfan, Nazar ud Din, Yar Muhammad, and Sami ur Rehman. Their bodies have been transferred to the District Headquarters Hospital in Khar, Bajaur.
Hidayatullah Khan, who served in the Senate from 2012 to 2024, was a prominent political figure in the region. He had been twice elected as an independent member from the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and had also chaired the Senate Standing Committee on Aviation.
The attack took place as the group was returning from an election campaign in Dama Dola. Najibullah Khan, an independent candidate for the upcoming by-election in constituency PK-22 of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on July 11, was also involved in the campaign.
Since Pakistan’s independence in 1947, the Punjabi-dominated Pakistan Army is exploiting Pashtun lands and people for their sinister interests. They use Pashtuns to carry out their agendas only to unjustly label them as terrorists or sympathizers of groups like the TTP.