PESHAWAR: Former Pakistani senator Hidayat Ullah Khan, along with five others including his guards, was killed in a bomb blast in Bajaur district of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Wednesday.
The explosion, caused by a remote-controlled device, targeted his vehicle in the Dama Dola area of Bajaur. Alongside Hidayat Ullah Khan, two of his guards, identified as Irfan and Nazar Deen, also lost their lives in the blast.
Hidayatullah was en route for an election campaign when the attack occurred. He was the brother of former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Shaukat Ullah. By-election on provincial assembly constituency PK-22 is scheduled for July 11.
It is pertinent to mention here that earlier he also survived an attempt on his life.
Hidayat Ullah Khan remained a senator for two consecutive terms from 2012 to 2024. In the 2012 Senate elections, he was elected to the upper house of parliament as a candidate of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).
In 2018, he was elected as an independent candidate backed by the then ruling party Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). He was retired from the Senate in March this year after completing his six-year term.
Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi have strongly condemned the Bajaur explosion and expressed sympathies with the bereaved families.
وفاقی وزیرداخلہ محسن نقوی کی تحصیل ماموند کے علاقے ڈمہ ڈولہ میں دھماکے کی شدید مذمت
وفاقی وزیرداخلہ محسن نقوی کا سابق سینٹر ہدایت اللہ سمیت 3 افراد کے جاں بحق ہونے کے واقعہ پر دکھ اور افسوس کا اظہار
وفاقی وزیرداخلہ محسن نقوی کا جاں بحق افراد کے لواحقین سے دلی ہمدردی و اظہار تعزیت— Ministry of Interior GoP (@MOIofficialGoP) July 3, 2024
