Caretaker Interior Minister Mohammad Azam Khan on Thursday night warned several politicians of an imminent threat to their lives.
In an interview to a local media outlet, Khan said the lives of Awami National Party’s (ANP) Asfandyar Wali, Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl’s (JUI-F) Akram Durrani, Qaumi Watan Party’s (QWP) Aftab Sherpao, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Imran Khan and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam’s (JUI) Fazlur Rehman and others are in danger.
However, due to political ideologies, the leaders of ANP and PPP face most danger, he added.
On Thursday, National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) chairman Dr Suleman had also revealed that lives of political leaders in the country were in danger.
On Monday, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidate Sheikh Aftab Ahmed and his son Sheikh Salman had narrowly escaped an assassination attempt late after unidentified persons opened fire on their car in Attock.
The former federal minister and his son were on their way home after attending a corner meeting in Kamra, when their vehicle came under attack.
Also on Monday, ANP leader Daud Khan Achakzai was injured after unidentified persons opened fire on the guesthouse of party’ candidate Zmrak Khan Achakzai in Chaman.
The series of attacks began on July 10, when a bomb targeted an ANP rally in Peshawar, martyring party leader Haroon Bilour along with 21 others.
An attack on a JUI-F convoy in Bannu on July 13 followed the tragic Peshawar incident. The attack claimed lives of at least four people, while 10 others were injured in the explosion.
Later the same day, in what was one of the deadliest attacks in the country’s history, Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) candidate Nawab Siraj Raisani along with 148 others was martyred when a suicide bomber blew himself up during an election rally in Mastung’s Darengarh area.
The intelligence and security agencies had warned of security threats in the run-up to the election on July 25 and said it will deploy more than 370,000 soldiers on polling day.
