Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Agriculture Minister and senior leader of Awami National Party Arbab Mohammad Ayub Jan survived what seemed to be a botched attempt at his life that ended up injuring a close relative of his by mistake, along with two others, near his residence on Sunday.
Unidentified militants had planted an improvised explosive device (IED) at the main entrance to Jan’s residence at Tarnab Farm, GT Road, at the outskirts of Peshawar. The residence is surrounded by orchards. The IED hit Arbab Inam’s car instead of Jan’s, who is a close relative. The car was destroyed and Inam and two others sustained injuries, and were admitted to Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar.
The damaged car was similar to the one owned and used by the agriculture minister, therefore, police authorities and Provincial Ministers Bashir Ahmad Bilour and Mian Iftikhar Hussain said the target was Arbab Ayub Jan. Jan also endorsed the statements made by police authorities and his colleagues in the provincial cabinet. Police said around two and a half kilogrammes of explosives were used in the attack.
Soon after the explosion, Bilour and Hussain rushed to the site, and denounced the attack and made it clear they would continue with a “firm and realistic stance against terrorism.” They said that as a result of collaboration between the government and security forces, terrorist acts were on a decline and militants were on the run. They urged the militants to lay down arms and become peaceful citizens instead of killing innocent people.