Two killed, four injured in suicide attack on ANP vehicle in Bajaur

BAJAUR/KARAR, Dec 19 (SABAH):  Two people were killed while four others were injured in a suicide attack on an Awami National Party (ANP) vehicle in Bajaur tribal district, officials said on Sunday.

Speaking to a private TV channel, Bajaur District Police Office Samad Khan confirmed the casualties, adding that the blast occurred near the Pak-Afghan border in Sur Qamar area within Laghrey police station’s limits.

He said that police and law enforcement personnel arrived at the scene following the blast. The official dispelled the notion that the incident took place near a polling station where local government elections are underway.

He said that the site of the incident was a hilly area. “The suicide bomber suddenly appeared and blew himself up,” he said. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack so far.

Meanwhile at least two people were killed and three others sustained injuries in a firing incident Sunday at a polling station in the Takht-e-Nasarati Tehsil of the Karak district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

The incident happened when the polling for KP’s local body election was underway. However, the polling was subsequently stopped after the situation turned chaotic there.

According to the report, one of the deceased was a paternal cousin of PTI’s MNA Shahid Khan Khattak, while the other was his bodyguard. Per eyewitnesses, the assailants fled the scene after opening fire at the polling station.

On the other hand, armed men attacked polling stations in Zakha Khel and Landi Kotal areas of Khyber District, as a result of which ballot boxes were smashed and polling materials were also damaged.

Armed men also broke into the polling station at Malik Nadir Shah School in Landi Kotal Bazaar, smashed ballot boxes, damaged election materials, and took the election staff hostage. Due to the disorder, polling has been suspended in 20 polling stations.