QUETTA, July 18: Provincial president of Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal Maulana Mohammad Khan Sherani MNA and three other JUI leaders escaped an assassination attempt when a powerful bomb exploded near their vehicle in the Gawal Haiderzai area of Qila Saifullah district on Sunday evening.
The Land Cruiser in which the JUI leaders were travelling was partially damaged. However, all the leaders remained unhurt. "It was a remote-controlled bomb which exploded when Maulana Sherani's vehicle reached near it," Mohammad Essa, a levies official of Qila Saifullah, told Dawn by telephone, adding that the levies had arrested two people in this connection.
"A bomb and a remote control have been recovered from the accused," sources said. The sources said Maulana Sherani and Maulana Anwaruddin, district Amir of JUI Zhob, had gone to Qila Saifullah along with two other JUI leaders for a party meeting.
After the meeting, they left for the Chena Baratkhel area for another party meeting. When they reached the hilly area of Gawal Haiderzai, some 45km from Qila Saifullah, a powerful explosion rocked the place soon after their vehicle passed through it.
Splinters from the bomb hit the rear side of the vehicle, smashing its glasses and damaging some other parts. District administrative officer of Qila Saifullah, Akhtiar Bungulzai, and other officials reached the site along with a heavy contingent of levies force and cordoned off the area.
They arrested two suspects from the Gawal Haiderzai area and recovered a bomb and a remote control from their possession. The arrested persons belonged to the Zhob area, the sources said. However, their names could not be ascertained.
"At this stage we cannot say what was the reason behind this attack," a senior administration official told Dawn, adding that an investigation had been launched to ascertain the motive of the attack.
Maulana Sherani and other leaders continued their organizational visit to the area and left for their next destination after the blast. The levies have registered a case against two people and further investigation was in progress. The Levies force has started conducting raids in Gawal Haiderzai and Zhob for the arrest of culprits involved in the blast.
PRESS CONFERENCE: Central leader of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam Maulana Noor Mohammad MNA strongly condemned the attempt on the life of Maulana Sherani and other party leaders and demanded a judicial probe into the incident.
Speaking at a press conference here on Sunday night, he demanded that a judge of the Balochistan High Court should be appointed to conduct an inquiry and unmask those involved in the blast.
He said Maulana Sherani had no enmity with anyone. "It was a conspiracy to eliminate the top leadership of the JUI," Maulana Noor Mohammad said. He said anti-Islam forces who had also killed Mufti Nizamuddin Shamzai, Munawwar Suhrawardy and many other leaders in the recent past, were involved in the attack.
The JUI leader claimed that after the blast the area people caught two persons from the Gawal Haiderzai area and handed them over to the levies. Hand-grenades, a wireless set and a satellite phone was recovered from their possession, he added. He said that if the government failed to expose the real culprits, the JUI would lodge a strong protest and would itself expose the culprits.
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