PTM leader Arif Wazir dies from injuries

PESHAWAR: Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) leader Arif Wazir, who sustained injuries in an attack on his life in his native South Waziristan on Friday, succumbed to his injuries at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Islamabad on Saturday.

His body was transported to his native Ghwakhwa village in Wana, South Waziristan, for burial. Arif Wazir received bullet injuries when unidentified persons opened fire on him near his house on Friday. The family sources said that Arif Wazir received three bullets and was taken to a local hospital before being shifted to Dera Ismail Khan wherefrom he was taken to Islamabad and admitted at the PIMS.

Soon after the attack, his cousin Ali Wazir, MNA, in a statement said Arif Wazir had received three bullets in his body. "The doctors are trying to save his life," he had added. Mohsin Dawar, a PTM leader and MNA from North Waziristan, announced the death of Arif Wazir on his micro blogging website on Saturday. "It is with heavy heart that I report that our comrade Arif Wazir has succumbed to his injuries. Arif Wazir's father and brother were also killed by militants years ago. Arif Wazir murdered by 'good' terrorists. Our struggle against their masters will continue," Mohsin Dawar wrote. PTM leaders and supporters claimed that Arif Wazir was 18th member of the family killed by the militants for their opposition to militancy in their region.

"I met Ali Wazir and other PTM leaders to offer condolence on the martyrdom of Arif Wazir before they departed from Islamabad with the body to Waziristan. This is the 18th member of the family murdered by state-sponsored militants. The murder will have serious implications," former Senator Afrasiyab Khattak noted. Arif Wazir was the second main leader of the movement who lost his life in a targetted attack. Arif Wazir had also contested election for the provincial assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from South Waziristan last year. He had lost to the PTI candidate Naseerullah Wazir. The PTM workers claimed that Arif Wazir had spent more than a year in prison on different occasions since the emergence of the rights movement on the national scene in 2014.

Muhammad Ibrahim Arman was the first leader of PTM who died on February 2 last year during a police crackdown on the rights activists when they were staging a protest in Loralai in Balochistan. More than 13 persons were killed and several others injured when the security forces allegedly opened fire on the PTM supporters in Khar Qamar in North Waziristan in May last year. Cases were registered against MNA Ali Wazir and Mohsin Dawar for leading an attack on the security checkpost.