At least 20 people, including Awami National Party leader Haroon Bilour, were killed and 63 were injured in a suicide bomb attack at an election rally in a congested neighbourhood in Peshawar late on Tuesday, The Express Tribune reported.
Bilour was approaching the rally when the suicide bomber detonated the explosives close to his vehicle. The politician was taken to a hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries, Dawn reported.
His body was later taken to Bilour House where party workers paid tributes to him. Senior party leader Iftikhar Hussain said funeral prayers will be offered on Wednesday at 5 pm (5.30 pm Indian Standard Time) in Peshawar’s Wazir Bagh area.
The Election Commission of Pakistan announced a postponement of elections in Bilour’s constituency, The Nation reported. Pakistan will hold general elections on July 25.
Haroon Bilour’s father Bashir Ahmed Bilour was killed by a Pakistani Taliban suicide bomber in Peshawar in 2012. The following year, the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for an attack at the party’s rally in the city, that killed 15 people. The militant outfit’s spokesperson at the time, Ehsanullah Ehsan, had told journalists that Haroon Bilour was the target but senior ANP leader Ghulam Ahmed Bilour got injured.
The Awami National Party governed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province from 2008 to 2013.
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