GUNMEN CRITICALLY INJURE PASHTUN RIGHTS ACTIVIST IN PAKISTAN’S TRIBAL AREAS

[#Hassan.]

 

Unidentified gunmen have critically injured a prominent ethnic Pashtun rights activist in an attack in Pakistan’s South Waziristan tribal district.

Sardar Arif Wazir, one of the leaders of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), was traveling by car in the city of Wanna when gunmen opened fire from another vehicle, RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal reported late on May 1.

He was rushed to the hospital in the city of Dera Ismail Khan.

The attack comes after Pakistani police arrested Wazir on April 17 for delivering an “anti-Pakistan” speech during a recent visit to Afghanistan. He was released on bail two days before the attack.

Mohsin Dawar, a member of Pakistan’s lower house of parliament and a prominent figure in the PTM, accused “state-sponsored militants” of carrying out the attack.