Mian Iftikhar confirms receiving threat alert

PESHAWAR: Awami National Party (ANP)’s Secretary General Mian Iftikhar Hussain has again received threat of attempt on his life.

The National Counter Terrorism Authority (NCTA) issued a threat alert on August 10 about the life attempt on the ANP leader.

A letter to the Home Secretary, provincial police officer, Inspector General Frontier Corps and Commandant Frontier Constabulary, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa said that a suicide bomber would cross the Pak-Afghan bborder within next two to three days to target Mian Iftikhar Hussain.

“It has been learnt that terrorists ex-TTP (Darra Adamkhel) namely Kamran alias Asif is planning to target ANP leader Mian Iftikhar Hussain in near future. Reportedly a suicide bomber named Husnain Afridi resident of Khyber tribal district (age 22 years, small beard, curly hairs, and height about 5 feet) is in Kunar province of Afghanistan and is undergoing vigorous pistol training. He will cross Afghanistan border within next 2-3 days for conduct of said terrorist activity. No further details are available,” the letter said.

It further added, “Extreme vigilance and heightened security measures are suggested to avoid any untoward incident.”

Mian Iftikhar Hussain confirmed the issuance of threat alert. He said the government has acquired a lot of information about the attacker and could even arrest him if it made a little more efforts.

He said the government had asked him to inform the authorities about his movement so that he is provided proper security.

The ANP leader said that after the martyrdom of his son and other close friends in terrorist attacks he could not be frightened by such threats.

A senior ANP leader on the condition of anonymity told The News that the threat to the life of Mian Iftikhar Hussain was “actually a threat to the resistance to the forces of darkness.”

He said Mian Iftikhar was not the policymaker in the previous government and was not elected to the next assembly then the threat to his life raised serious questions.

“They made Mian Iftikhar to lose the election. It’s fine. But he was not the part of policymaking during the last five years and won’t be for the next five years. Life threats should be given to those who are part of policymaking,” the ANP leader argued.

He said it must be investigated as to why Mian Iftikhar was consistently receiving threats. He said other people were distributing government offices after the election but Mian Iftikhar was receiving life threats.

“Mian Iftikhar Hussain’s only fault is that he is raising voice against the threat to democracy in Pakistan,” he maintained, adding, why the terrorists were concerned about the democratic stance of the ANP leader. He said it needed investigation whether this threat was part of the larger activities in support of Imran Khan to stop others from defending democracy.

He said questions could be raised about the impact of military operations when terrorists were still able to freely cross the border and easily target individuals.

He said limiting the ANP leader’s movement was not the solution and asked the government to take steps for eliminating the threat to his life.