Pakistan: MP arrested for attacking military post

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) - A Pakistani parliamentarian accused of being involved in an assault on an army checkpoint surrendered himself on Thursday to security forces, officials and local media reported.

Mohsin Dawar, an elected member of Pakistan's National Assembly from the troubled region of North Waziristan, was accused together with another MP, Ali Wazir, of inciting a group of armed protesters to attack a military checkpoint in Boyya area of North Waziristan during a sit-in last week, local broadcaster Hum News reported.

The alleged attack, according to the government, compelled the security forces to fire in self-defense, killing three protesters and injuring over a dozen with five army troops injured in exchange.

Ali Wazir together with eight others were taken into custody soon after the incident, whereas Dawar had managed to flee, the army said in a statement.

He was remanded in police custody for eight days by court.

Dawar was later produced before an anti-terrorist court in the adjoining Bannu district, which remanded him in police custody for interrogation, Hum News reported.

The two MPs belong to Pashtun Tahhafuzz Movement (PTM), an ethnic nationalist movement in the country's northwestern and southwestern Pashtun-populated areas, championing Pashtun rights.

The group was launched after the January 2018 killing of Naqeebullah Mehsud, a young aspiring tribal artist, in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city.

Dawar and Wazir, two of the group's leaders, took part in general elections last July, winning seats in the National Assembly from North and South Waziristan, respectively.

On April 29, Pakistan army spokesman Asif Ghafoor accused the PTM of receiving funds from foreign intelligence agencies, saying this crossed a red line.

"We have details that Indian and Afghan intelligence agencies transferred funds to the PTM on several occasions," Ghafoor told reporters.

The PTM, which demands withdrawal of the army from Waziristan, denied the charge.

Cracking down on the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militant group in North Waziristan in 2014, the army claims to have cleared 95% of the area -- once the TTP stronghold -- of militants.