Former PPP MNA Akhundzada Chattan survives Bajaur blast

KHAR: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)’s former Member National Assembly Akhundzada Chattan remained unhurt in a bomb blast targeting his convoy in Mandal Manogay village in Salarzai tehsil in Bajaur Agency on Saturday, official sources said.
The sources said that Akhundzada Chattan, who is member of the PPP’s Central Executive Committee, was returning to Khar, the headquarters of Bajaur Agency, after attending a party function when his convoy was attacked with an improvised explosive device (IED) in Mandal Manogay. The sources said that the PPP leader escaped unhurt in the explosion that didn’t cause any casualty.
The vehicle of Bakhtzada, a brother of Akhundzada Chattan, was damaged in the blast.
The political administration of Bajaur started investigating the incident and arrested 23 suspects after the blast under the collective responsibility clause of the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR).
Akhundzada Chattan was elected MNA from one of the two National Assembly seats in Bajaur in the 2008 general election. He was the lone PPP MNA elected from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata).
The acts of sabotage have increased in various parts of the country in recent days. The Pakistan Qaumi Watan Party chief Aftab Sherpao also escaped an attack in Turangzai area in Charsadda district two days back.