Another injured of DI Khan suicide attack succumbs to wounds

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: The death toll from a suicide attack at Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidate Sardar Ikramullah Gandapur rises to two as one more injured passed away on Monday.

Gandapur, a former agriculture minister in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, was said to be leaving his home for an election meeting when his vehicle was targetted in a suicide attack in Kulachi Tehsil. He was among four injured in the attack and succumbed to his wounds at the Combined Military Hospital and was laid to rest in his hometown Kulachi.

Dil Nawaz, one of the guards of Gandapur, is also among the two martyred in the terror attack. 

The PTI candidate was set to contest the July 25 polls from PK-99 (DI Khan-V) constituency. The Election Commission of Pakistan has postponed polls on the constituency.

A case against "unknown persons" has been registered by the police.

Electioneering marred by violence

A spate of terrorist attacks has taken place in the weeks leading up to the nationwide polls. On July 10, a bomb targeted a rally by the Awami National Party (ANP) in Peshawar, martyring local party leader Haroon Bilour along with 21 others.

An attack on a Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) convoy in Bannu on July 13 followed the tragic Peshawar incident. The Bannu incident claimed lives of four people, while 10 others were injured in the explosion.

Later the same day, one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in the country's history took place which claimed the lives of over 150 people. Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) candidate Nawab Siraj Raisani was among the martyred when a suicide bomber blew himself up during Raisani's election rally in Mastung's Darengarh area.

A week after the Mastung blast, on July 16, ANP leader Daud Khan Achakzai was injured after unidentified persons opened fire on the guest house of the party's candidate Zmrak Khan Achakzai in Chaman.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader and former federal minister Sheikh Aftab Ahmed's vehicle was fired at in Attock recently, as was the convoy of former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani's son Ali Musa in Multan.

On July 22, at least 20 people were injured after a hand grenade exploded outside Balochistan Awami Party's electoral office in Dalbadin.

The same day, JUI-F leader Akram Khan Durrani escaped an assassination attempt in Bannu. He was en route to an election meeting in Basia Khel when shots were fired at his vehicle by unidentified suspects, who escaped after the attack.