At least five people, including former senator Hidayat Ullah, were killed in a “remote-controlled” bomb explosion targeting a vehicle in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bajur district on Wednesday, according to police.
The incident took place in Bajaur’s Damadola village where the former senator’s vehicle was targeted via a remote-controlled device, Deputy Superintendent Police (DSP) Bakht Munir said.
Hidayat, who was a former independent senator from erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), was killed in the bomb explosion along with four others, he added.
He went to Damadola village in connection with the electioneering of a candidate in the PK-22 constituency — Najeeb Ullah Khan — who is his nephew. He faced the horrific bomb attack while returning to Bajaur’s headquarters, Khar town, police said.
According to the police, Malik Irfan from the tribal district’s Niag Banda area and Nazar Deen from Nawagai town were also among the deceased in the horrific explosion which completely destroyed the vehicle.
Hidayat belonged to an influential political family whose father was former National Assembly lawmaker Haji Bismillah Khan and his brother was former governor Shaukat Ullah.
He was elected as an independent senator twice — from 2012 to 2018 and 2018 to 2024 — besides serving as the Upper House’s Standing Committee for Aviation’s chairman and a member of the National Counter-Terrorism Authority (Nacta).
