A local leader of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), identified as Haji Rehman, was martyred in an attack by terrorists of Fitna al-Khwarij in Upper Orakzai, sources said.
The attack took place in Kandi Taal village, an area falling under the jurisdiction of Dabori Police Station, where Haji Rehman was targeted by the terrorists.
Haji Rehman’s martyrdom is the latest in a series of attacks targeting JUI-F figures in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in recent months, with South Waziristan witnessing two particularly notable incidents.
On January 10, JUI-F leader Maulana Sultan Muhammad Wazir succumbed to injuries sustained in an IED blast in Lower South Waziristan. He had been critically wounded in the attack before being shifted to Dera Ismail Khan for treatment.
More recently, on August 1, JUI-F-affiliated cleric Maulana Ismail Sarki Khel was shot dead in the Azam Warsak area of Birmal tehsil in Lower South Waziristan. According to police, motorcycle-riding attackers opened fire on him after Friday prayers and fled the scene.
The attack in Upper Orakzai therefore marks another deadly blow against figures associated with JUI-F, this time in a different tribal district. Haji Rehman was targeted in Kandi Taal, where the attackers struck before fleeing the area.
Following the incident, security personnel and law-enforcement agencies moved into the area and initiated necessary measures to trace the attackers and establish the circumstances surrounding the attack.
The repeated targeting of JUI-F figures across tribal districts has raised serious concerns about the ability of terrorists to identify and strike political and religious figures in areas already facing persistent security challenges.
For JUI-F, the latest incident adds another name to an increasingly troubling list of leaders and affiliated religious figures targeted in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The attacks in South Waziristan earlier this year, followed by the assassination of Ismail Sarki Khel last month, had already highlighted the vulnerability of JUI-F figures in the province.
Haji Rehman’s martyrdom in Upper Orakzai now extends that pattern to another tribal district, underscoring the continuing threat posed by terrorists of Fitna al-Khwarij to local political and religious figures.
Further details regarding the circumstances of the attack and any subsequent action against those responsible were awaited.
