Former aide to Aman Lashkar commander targeted inside a supermarket with a pressure cooker bomb
Mufti Jana Mir Masti Khel, a prominent religious scholar and former aide to Aman Lashkar commander Nazir, was killed on Monday when a pressure cooker bomb exploded inside a supermarket in the busy Rustam Bazaar of South Waziristan’s Wana.
He suffered severe injuries in the blast that occurred on the ground floor of the supermarket and was taken to the District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital Wana, where he succumbed to his wounds during treatment.
Wana Circle Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Asghar Ali Shah said that upon receiving information about the incident, he, along with Wana City Station House Officer Usman Wazir and a heavy police contingent, reached the scene.
Police cordoned off the area and collected evidence, while a forensic team recovered important material from the site.
According to the DSP, preliminary investigations indicate that the attackers had pre-planted the pressure cooker bomb in the supermarket and that Mir was the apparent target. An initial report was registered in the daily diary of Wana City Police Station. Investigations were continuing to identify the perpetrators and establish the motive behind the attack.
The killing comes just three days after unidentified gunmen shot dead Maulana Muhammad Ismail, a religious leader affiliated with Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl, in Azam Waraik Bazaar of Barmal tehsil. Several other religious figures in South Waziristan Lower have been targeted in recent attacks, heightening concerns over the security of clerics in the region.
READ: JUI-F leader gunned down in South Waziristan
Over the past year and a half, the law-and-order situation in South Waziristan Lower has deteriorated markedly. The district has witnessed a rise in bomb blasts, targeted killings, kidnappings for ransom, assaults on civilians, and attacks on police and security forces, creating an atmosphere of fear and insecurity.
Residents have urged the government and law enforcement agencies to take immediate and concrete measures to restore peace, act decisively against terrorist elements, and ensure the protection of citizens’ lives and property.
