Pakistan blast: 'Five killed' in attack on JUI-F election candidate

[iam not greek]

At least five people have been killed and many wounded in a bomb attack aimed at an Islamic party candidate in north-west Pakistan, officials say.

The attack took place in the town of Hangu while Sayed Janan was campaigning for the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl party. It is unclear if he was hurt.

The attack comes just one day after a deadly blast at a rally for the same party in the tribal region of Kurram.

On Tuesday officials said the number of dead in that blast had climbed to 25.

That attack is thought to have been the deadliest in a series on parties and candidates in the run-up to Saturday's election. The Taliban said they carried out the attack.

The candidate whose rally was targeted on Monday, Munir Khan Orakzai, is considered close to President Zardari. Mr Orakzai was unhurt by the blast.

Mr Zardari's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) is one of those being targeted by the Taliban and Mr Orakzai was previously part of the ruling alliance led by the PPP, which completed its term in office in March.

In the latest attack, Syed Janan as well as several members of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) party were reported to be meeting shopkeepers in a market when the bomb went off.

Both Hangu and Kurram where the latest attacks took place have been flashpoints for violence between the country's Sunni Muslim majority and the Shia minority.

Correspondents say these elections are being called the bloodiest ever in Pakistan's history, with daily reports of bloodshed at the hands of militants determined to derail the campaign.

BBC News - Pakistan blast: 'Five killed' in attack on JUI-F election candidate

 

[niaz]

A nice article on this event:


Height of denial: JUI-F under attack
From the Newspaper


WHILE more liberal parties have borne the brunt of election-related militant violence, as events over the past few days have shown the extremists are just as capable of wreaking havoc upon even those political elements that share their ideological moorings. On Tuesday a blast occurred near a JUI-F candidate’s corner meeting in Hangu, killing several people. Militants had earlier warned locals against attending political gatherings. Only a day before a JUI-F rally was bombed in Kurram Agency killing over 20. Yet what is shocking is that former lawmaker and current candidate Munir Khan Orakzai, who addressed the Kurram rally, denied that the Pakistani Taliban could be involved in the attack. This is mind-boggling. The TTP had very clearly stated that Mr Orakzai was indeed the target and justified the strike by saying that the former MNA was allied to the last government which had launched military operations against the militants.

It appears as if practically the whole religious right is suffering from a state of denial. JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman himself escaped two suicide attempts in 2011.
He too has failed to criticise religious militancy. Instead, Fazlur Rehman, like others, has ‘asked’ the TTP to refrain from attacking political parties. But as the scale of the pre-poll violence shows, the militants appear not to have heeded the maulana’s advice. While the TTPs animus towards more ‘secular’ parties is understandable, the targeting of like-minded elements is a tad more confusing. After all, parties such as the JUI-F share the militants’ ideology — Islamist rule, imposition of Sharia etc — though they believe in pursuing these goals through the democratic route. What is more, a number of today’s militants were at one time associated with the JUI-F. So for those with a soft spot for the TTP, perhaps the attacks on even ideologically similar groups offer a preview of the rigidity of the militant mind.

This should serve as a wake-up call not only to religious parties such as the JUI-F and JI, but also to politicians such as Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan, who advocate dialogue with the militants. The extremists believe only they are qualified to set the political agenda and interpret religion, through murder and mayhem. So it must be asked how open to negotiations such elements would be. There must be no doubt that religious extremists will turn their guns on anyone who dares to differ with them, hence the need for all political players to speak up against militancy.

Height of denial: JUI-F under attack | Newspaper | DAWN.COM

 

[Jango]

There goes the claim of only liberal parties being targeted!

Why is JUI still ignorant about it?

have to accept that all parties are being targeted, not the so called liberal or leftist.

RIP to the dead in this incident.

 

[Parul]

Rest In Peace...