The politician of the National Party Awami (ANP), Maulana Khan Zeb, and a policeman were shot dead on Thursday by suspects not identified in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s District of Baja, according to the police.
Bajaur District Police officer (DPO) Waqas Rafiq said Dawn.com That the politician was shot dead in Shindai Mor while campaigning for the peace parade of July 13, and added that a policeman was also killed in the attack.
“Three other people were injured in the shooting,” said Dpo Rafiq. “This was an objective murder made by unidentified motorcycle shooters.”
Dpo Rafiq added that evidence of the crime scene had been collected.
Khan Zeb was a member of the ANP central cabinet and occupied the office of the Secretary of Ulema Affairs, according to the party’s website.
The President of the ANP, Senator Aimal Wali Khan, issued a statement condemning the murder, stating that the party would present a first information report against the State.
“State institutions are accomplices in this incident because they have maintained criminal silence,” said the ANP chief. “After consulting with Khan Zeb’s older brother, Sheikh Jhanzada, a FIR will be recorded for the murder against the State.”
In a publication about X, Wali Khan posted photos of him and Khan Zeb with the “devastated” legend.
Meanwhile, the president of ANP KP, Mian Ifitkhar Hussain, strongly condemned the incident and declared three days of mourning in a statement shared in X.
“This attack is not only an attack on the National Party of Awami, but also about the consciousness and peace of Pashtun,” said Hussain.
According to the statement, Hussain announced that the ANP KP chapter would observe three days of mourning, would suspend all the activities and raise black flags next to the game’s flags.
The statement added that Hussain was going to Bajaur and urged the party to maintain “moral, unity and organizational discipline.”
Similarly, the KP Prime Minister’s office, Ali Amin Gandapur, issued a statement condemning the incident and promised to take the suspects before justice.
According to the statement, the CM condemned the shooting and ordered the relevant authorities to investigate the incident and quickly arrested the shooters.
“Those involved in the incident may not escape the control of the law,” said Gandapur.
The Pakistan Human Rights Commission (HRCP) issued a statement condemning the murder, welcoming Khan Zeb as “a leading peace activist and political leader of the ANP.”
“We demand rapid and impartial investigation into this tragic incident,” wrote the rights agency in a statement on X.
“Federal and provincial governments must ensure that normality returns to the terrorist districts of the province and that people who have suffered for decades can lead their lives peacefully and without fear.”
KP politicians have been attacked in attacks in the past.
This year, the house of Bajaur Mna Mubarak Zeb Khan was attacked twice, with an improvised explosive device that explodes out of their home in May and suspects that they launched a rocket in the residence in June.
He was not at home during the IED attack and was unharmed in the second incident.
Meanwhile, in March, the brother of former Jamaat-I-Islami (JI) Mushtaq Ahmad Khan was shot dead in KP’s Swabi.
The former senator confirmed on social networks that his older brother, Shakeel Ahmad Khan, was shot dead in front of his house by unidentified gunmen in the town of Ahad Khan on Swabi.
“He was brutally killed in front of his home in an innocent town,” Mushtaq wrote. “My brother was very dear to me, he was my greatest help. He (his murder) is the greatest atrocity.”
Additional reports from Zahid Imdad
