Former Pakistani senator killed in bomb attack along with four others, police say

The former senator was killed when a vehicle carrying him and his supporters hit a bomb in a stronghold that previously belonged to the Taliban, authorities have said.

An ambulance in Pakistan carries victims who were killed by a bomb explosion in a previous Taliban stronghold. Source: AP / AP

A former senator in Pakistan has been killed when a vehicle carrying him and supporters struck a roadside bomb in a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban near the Afghan border, police say.

The background: Police said the former senator, Hidayatullah Khan, had been travelling in a convoy to attend an election rally.

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and other officials denounced the bombing.

No one claimed responsibility for the attack, and the Pakistani Taliban in a statement said they were not involved.

What else to know: Bajur, the area where the blast occurred, was until recently a stronghold of the group, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP.

TTP was emboldened by the Afghan Taliban seizing power in Afghanistan in 2021 as international forces withdrew.

Pakistani authorities often assert that Afghanistan's Taliban rulers are giving shelter to TTP fighters.

The Afghan Taliban government insists it does not allow anyone to use Afghan soil for violence in any country.

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