The chief of a banned outfit, Ansarul Islam Haji Akhundzada, among three others was killed and seven others were injured in a suicide attack in Pakha Ghulam area near Peshawar city on Monday.
A suicide bomber targeted the house of a tribal leader, killing three people and wounding another seven in Peshawar near Pakha Ghulam police post. Pakha Ghulam, an adjoining town of Peshawar, is 8 kilometer away from the city.
The attacker who was between 20 and 25-year of age, targeted Haji Akhunzada, a commander of the AI, SSP Tahir Ayub told a private TV channel. “The attacker struck when Akhunzada was sitting in a field near an under-construction house.” DSP Imtiaz Shah said the other two who died were Akhunzada’s nephew and son-in-law.
According to Akhunzada’s son Khan Taj, the family had been living in the area for four months and had been receiving threats. “Earlier, my father had a narrow escape because he was helping the government against Lashkar-i-Islam.” The banned militant group LI, led by Mangal Bagh, is said to have significant relations with the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan is active in Khyber Agency where AI operates as well.
Taj said that earlier, LI members opened fire at Akhunzada’s vehicle in Hayatabad, Peshawar. “There is a long list of people and friends who have been killed by LI in the last few years.”
Among other family members assassinated by the LI are Akhunzada’s nephew Maulana Mustamin who was killed in Tirah Valley in 2008. Mustamin’s brother Mobin Afridi, who was also AI’s spokesperson, was killed in 2009 in a car explosion in Hayatabad. A few days later, while mourners gathered for Afridi’s death, three people were killed but Akhunzada remained unhurt.
Further, a member of AI, Haji Ghulam Nabi, was kidnapped from Pakha Ghulam in early 2008 and remained missing. Interestingly, most incidents, including Monday’s bombing, took place in the jurisdiction of the Paharpura Police Station.
Reports said that Akhuzada headed operations against the LI and was a senior member of the AI’s shura. “He was recently advised to strengthen his security because he was consistently being targeted,” an AI member told the media.
Meanwhile, Lady Reading Hospital’s spokesperson Syed Jamil Shah said that three bodies had been brought to the hospital. “One was received dead, while two passed away at the hospital,” he said. Those dead were identified as Akhunzada, Abib and Mueeb. “Seven wounded people were brought and five are in critical condition.”
The two militant groups have fought each other on sectarian grounds for almost a decade and hundreds of people have died.