Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s convoy ‘comes under attack’ in Dera Ismail Khan

Pakistan’s Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazal (JUI-F) head Maulana Fazlur Rehman, on Sunday escaped an attack on his convoy in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, his party said.

Rehman was traveling through the Dera Ismail Khan district, when his convoy was fired upon near the Yarik interchange on Islamabad- Dera Ismail Khan motorway, according to his Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) party.

The JUI-F chief and his staff escaped the attack unhurt, local media reported.

“We have time and again informed that the situation is not favorable for our leadership. The administration writes a letter every other day with regard to the threats, but takes no practical step,” Aslam Ghauri, a JUI-F spokesman, said in a statement.

“The law-and-order situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan is deteriorating day by day.”

Ghauri called for an immediate investigation into the attack, questioning why the law enforcement agencies were not fulfilling their responsibility.

Senator Abdul Ghafoor Hyderi, the JUI-F secretary general, condemned the attack on Rehman’s convoy.

“The attack on Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s convoy is a question mark for the state,” Hyderi said in a statement. “We have been consistently saying that there are threats to Maulana Fazlur Rehman.”

Hyderi questioned how was it possible for his party to contest the national elections, scheduled for February 8, under such circumstances.

JUI-F members have lately raised concerns about the security situation ahead of the national elections, particularly after the party suffered major losses in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa local body elections due to being a target of militant groups in recent years, read the reports.

In September, Hafiz Hamdullah, a senior JUI-F figure, was injured along with several others in a blast in Balochistan’s Mastung area.

In July this year, at least 40 JUI-F activists and supporters were killed in a deadly suicide attack that targeted the party’s worker convention in the Bajaur district.