DERA ISMAIL KHAN – Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf candidate Sardar Ikramullah Gandapur and his driver have embraced martyrdom in a suicide blast on Sunday in tehsil Kulachi of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, a senior police officer confirmed on Sunday.
The former KP agriculture minister was on his way to a corner meeting when the suicide bomber targeted his vehicle near Kolachi area injuring Gandapur, his driver, and two policemen, according to DPO Zahoor Khan Afridi.
He confirmed that Gandapur and his driver, Ramzan, succumbed to injuries sustained in the attack while others wounded in the blast are receiving medical treatment at the Combined Military Hospital (CMH). The PTI leader’s body has been moved to District Hospital Dera for postmortem.
The injured have been shifted to District Headquarters Hospital, DI Khan for treatment, the police officer added.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Gandapur’s brother, Israrullah Gandapur, was killed in a suicide bombing in 2013 in Kulachi.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Ikramullah Khan Gandapur was reportedly martyred in a suicide attack targeting his convoy on the outskirts of Dera Ismail Khan. pic.twitter.com/mkHSdcznGZ
— Sarfraz Ali (@ItsSarfrazAli) July 22, 2018
PTI chief Imran Khan, PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto and other prominent figures of the country condemned the suicide attack.
“Saddened to learn that Ikram Gandapur succumbed to his injuries. My prayers go to his family. May Allah give them the strength to bear this loss,” Imran Khan tweeted.
https://twitter.com/ImranKhanPTI/status/1021008403265728512
Separately, in a statement, Pakistan People’s Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari expressed deep grief and sorrow over the martyrdom of Gandapur and his driver and sympathized with the members of bereaved families.
Bilawal said that terrorist attacks on the election candidates was a conspiracy and stressed the need for curbing extremism to eliminate menace of terrorism.
