QUETTA: Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) emir Sirajul Haq narrowly escaped a suicide attack that targeted his convoy in Balochistan’s Zhob district on Friday. Seven people were injured in the incident.

Officials said the JI emir’s vehicle was targeted when he was travelling with party workers to Zhob town from Quetta to address a public meeting arranged by the Jamaat’s provincial leadership.

Sirajul Haq, a former provincial minister, rema­ined unhurt, said Zhob Comm­issioner Saeed Ahmed Umrani. The commissioner confirmed that it was a suicide attack.

The party’s meeting went ahead as scheduled despite the incident. “I am not afraid of death. The decision of my life and death rests with Allah,” Mr Haq later told the participants.

When the JI emir had reached near Zhob, many party workers welcomed him. The convoy left for Zhob town after a brief stay, but when it was near a post of Paistan customs, the blast occurred close to Mr Haq’s vehicle.

Blast leaves seven injured; Siraj’s vehicle partially damaged

“The suicide bomber blew himself up near Mr Haq’s vehicle when the convoy was travelling towa­rds its destination,” security officials said, quo­ting eyewitness accounts.

“The body of the suspected suicide bomber was found at the site,” Sher Ali Mandokhail, a senior police officer in Zhob, said, adding that the vehicle of Jamaat-i-Islami’s emir was partly damaged in the incident.

The people wounded in the explosion were taken to the Zhob district hospital. Four of them were in critical condition and were later shifted to Quetta after initial treatment, hospital officials said.

According to Mr Mandokhail, the JI emir insisted on going to the venue of his political gathering after the blast. “He was given clearance after additional police and law enforcement personal were deployed,” he said, according to Dawn.com.

An official said Zhob’s assistant commissioner, Hafiz Tariq, had been assigned the JI’s security.

“Everybody was safe in the suicide attack and there was no loss of lives,” JI spokesperson Qaisar Sharif said in a video message. “According to initial information, only some cars have been damaged and a few people have sustained injuries.”

He said the JI leadership was safe.

Condemnations

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the suicide attack, saying he had directed the Balochistan government to investigate the incident from all angles and bring the perpetrators to justice.

Balochistan Chief Minister Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo also expressed grief over the suicide blast. “We are grateful to Allah, who protected the emir of JI and his colleagues,” he said.

The CM says he was deeply regretted that several people were injured in the incident.

National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and Deputy Speaker Zahid Akram Durrani also condemned the incident, expressing deep grief and sorrow over the loss of lives.

They prayed for the victims and extended their condolences to the bereaved, according to a statement on the NA’s Twitter account.

Foreign Minister and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and former president Asif Ali Zardari condemned the incident.

PTI Chairman Imran Khan also condemned the attack and prayed for the wounded.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the suicide attack. The banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, in fact, condemned the incident and distanced itself from the blast.

Published in Dawn, May 20th, 2023