Local political leader injured in roadside blast in Pak

A local political leader and prominent religious scholar in northwest Pakistan is battling for his life after he was injured in a roadside bomb blast in the restive province, an official said Monday.

Maulana Gul Dad Khan of the Awami National Party (ANP) was travelling when his vehicle was hit by the roadside blast in the tribal Bajaur district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan.

His friend was also injured in the blast. Both the wounded were immediately shifted to the district headquarters hospital, Khar for treatment, the official said.

A team of officials of the district administration and Levies forces have reached the area to investigate the incident, the official added.

A doctor at the hospital said Khan was undergoing treatment.

The Awami National Party is a secular and leftist Pashtun nationalist political party.

It was the largest Pashtun nationalist party and governed the province from 2008-2013, but lost to Prime Minister Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in the general election of 2013.