Daily Times

PESHAWAR: Awami National Party (ANP) leader Barrister Haroon Bilour, who was martyred in a suicide attack on Tuesday night, was laid to rest in Peshawar on Wednesday. He was 47.

His funeral held at at Wazir Bagh was attended by the ANP’s central leadership, including Ameer Haider Khan Hoti, hundreds of party workers and supporters. Leaders from other political parties, including QWP’s Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao and PPP’s Humayun Khan were also in attendance.

Haroon Bilour was among 20 people martyred in a suicide attack, which took place in Peshawar on Tuesday night in the Yakatoot neighbourhood – moments after Bilour arrived there to address a corner meeting. More than 62 people injured in the suicide attack are currently seeking treatment at Lady Reading Hospital, authorities confirmed.

The banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on Wednesday claimed responsibility for the suicide blast.

After the incident, a case was registered at Police Station Agha Mir Jani Shah, with SHO Wajid Ali as the complainant.

Peshawar Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Qazi Jameel said that the provincial police chief had constituted a five-member Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to probe into the incident. The team has been tasked to submit its report within a week.

A list of all those killed in the explosion was also released, however, two bodies were yet to be identified.

Besides Haroon Bilour, others killed in the explosion were identified as Asif Khan, 28, Muhammad Shoaib, 19, Muhammad Naeem, Yaseen, Haji Muhammad Gul, 45, Najeeb ullah, 20, Abid ullah, 30, Huzaifa, 12, Arif Hussain, 25, Akhtar Gul, 18, Imran, 30, Khan Muhammad, 30, Rizwan, Zameer Khan, Israr, Sameen and Sadiq.

The funeral prayers of 10 of the deceased were offered earlier, following which they were buried.

The ANP was the main target of Taliban attacks in the 2013 election, with scores of workers and candidates killed in terrorist attacks across the country.

Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa condemned the targeting of Haroon Bilour, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations.

“We are fighting against nexus of inimical forces which aren’t willing to absorb a peaceful and stable Pakistan. We remain undeterred and shall defeat them,” the COAS was quoted as saying.

Moreover, the United States embassy also condemned the attack in a social media post.

“The United States condemns in the strongest possible terms the attack in Peshawar against civilians campaigning for this month’s elections. We send our deepest condolences to the families and friends of those who were killed and hope for the speedy recovery of those who were wounded,” the embassy said in a statement.

ECP postpones elections in PK-78 after suicide attack —A12

Published in Daily Times, July 12^th 2018.