TTP claims responsibility for suicide attack on PTI candidate

Police officer Zahoor Afridi says Ikramullah Gandapur, who is running for a parliament seat from opposition leader Imran Khan’s party, and three others, including two policemen, were wounded in Sunday’s attack. (Photo courtesy: social media)
  • Suicide bomber detonated his explosives near the PTI candidate’s vehicle in Kulachi area of Dera Ismail Khan
  • In Bannu District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a senior political leader of Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, Akram Durrani’s convoy came under fire but no one was injured

ISLAMABAD: A suicide blast in Dera Ismail Khan, on Sunday, killed Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) candidate Ikramullah Gandapur and his driver. Ikramullah Khan was returning home after addressing a political gathering when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives near the PTI candidate’s vehicle in Kulachi area of Dera Ismail Khan.
Mohammad Khorasani, spokesman for the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militant group, claimed responsibility for the suicide attack in Dera Ismail Khan in a statement.
TTP Spokesman said in a statement that the target was former provincial minister Ikram-Ullah Khan Gandapur.
Dera Ismail Khan is a district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa bordering tribal districts.
Ikramullah Gandapur was contesting the elections for the provincial assembly seat PK-99 on a PTI ticket.
“Prime Minister Justice (R) Nasir-ul-Mulk has expressed grief over the demise of Ikram-Ullah Gandapur who embraced martyrdom during the attack on his election campaign in DI Khan,” PM Office said in brief statement.
While reacting to the suicide bombing, PTI Chief Imran Khan in his tweet strongly condemned the cowardly terrorist attack against Ikram Khan Gandapur.
In a separate incident, on Sunday, in Bannu District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a senior political leader of Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), Akram Durrani’s convoy came under fire but no one was injured.
Earlier this month four people were killed and at least 30 injured when the convoy of Akram Khan Durrani, an MMA candidate, was targeted in a bomb blast in Bannu. Durrani was not hurt in the attack.
Pakistan has seen a new spate of terrorist attacks in recent weeks ahead of the general election scheduled for Wednesday (July 25).