Ex-senator, peace body chief survive attacks

GHALLANAI: Six persons were injured as militants Monday targetted the vehicles of a former senator Malik Abdul Wahid and chief of a peace committee with improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Mohmand Agency, official sources said.
They said that the ex-senator and former chief of Safi Amn Committee survived the attempts on life. They said the militants had planted a remote control device on a roadside in Landi Jor area and triggered the explosives as the vehicle of Malik Abdul Wahid was passing through the area.
As a result, the sources said, the brother of the former senator Abdul Ahad was slightly hurt in the incident while he remained unhurt in the incident. His vehicle was partially damaged in the attack.
Sources said that a second blast was also heard at the same locality soon after the first one. Similarly, they said that militants targetted the vehicle of a former chief of Safi Amn Committee, Malik Subedar Safi with a remote control device in Ziarat Khwar area in Safi tehsil of Mohmand Agency.
They said that the militants triggered the bomb when the vehicle of Safi was passing through the area. They said that Safi escaped the blast while three of his companions Nadir Shah, Sajid and Sher Alam and two motorcyclists identified as Javed and Shoaib were injured in the attack.
The sources said that the personnel of the security forces cordoned off the areas soon after the bomb blast and launched a search operation.Spokesperson for a militants outfit Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a faction of proscribed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, Ihsanullah Ihsan telephoned to reporters from an undisclosed location and claimed responsibility for the attacks. He said that the former senator Malik Abdul Wahid was not their target.