Former Railway Minister Ghulam Ahmed Bilour narrowly escaped death on Tuesday when a suicide bomber detonated himself near the Awami National Party (ANP) leader’s vehicle at an election rally in Peshawar.
Nine people including at least four policemen were killed in the attack that again targeted the Bilour family. Last October, Mr. Ghulam Bilour’s brother, Bashir Bilour, was killed in a suicide bomb attack for being a steadfast opponent of the Taliban. His son, Haroon Bilour, was in the vehicle with his uncle in this evening’s attack. Both of them survived the attack which also killed the driver of the vehicle .
Ever since election season set in earlier this month, the ANP has come in for repeated terrorist attacks; making its leadership call this “pre-poll rigging’’. The ANP has been crying foul about the withdrawal of security. According to party president Afsandyar Wali Khan, his letter to the caretaker Prime Minister, Chief Minister and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court seeking more security for its leaders had fallen on deaf ears.
However, the ANP remained determined to contest the elections and continue with the campaign .
