Daily Times

PESHAWAR: Undeterred by the Tuesday suicide blast at a corner meeting of the Awami National Party (ANP), party’s President Asfandyar Wali Wednesday said that the party would continue to campaign for the upcoming 2018 general election.

The party will resume campaigning after a three-day peaceful protest, he said while speaking to the media. He said that the party’s main focus was to become victorious in the elections, adding “We have to contest elections and win.” At least 19 people, including ANP candidate Haroon Bilour, were killed when a suicide bomber attacked an ANP corner meeting in Yakatoot area of Peshawar on late Tuesday.

More than 60 others were injured in the attack.

“The main problem is that they [Taliban] know who all of us are but we don’t know about them, said Wali. “Instead of attacking us from the back, our rivals should go head-to-head against us,” he maintained. The deceased ANP leader, Haroon Bilour, was set to contest the July 25 elections from Peshawar’s PK-78 constituency.

He was son of Bashir Ahmed Bilour, a senior ANP figure who himself was martyred in a suicide attack in 2012 after a party meeting,

Meanwhile, the Election Commission of Pakistan has postponed the polls in PK-78 (Peshawar-XIII) constituency. The polls have been postponed due to the death of the PK-78 candidate, the electoral body said, adding that the new schedule for the said constituency will be announced later.

Published in Daily Times, July 12^th 2018.