Arif Wazir, the leader of the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) has been killed after being attacked a day ago outside his home in Wana, South Waziristan. The attack on Arif Wazir also drew immediate condemnations from Amnesty International.
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Wazir had been targeted by unknown assailants, who opened fire on him near his house in Wana on Friday night. He had been rushed to a nearby hospital after the assault.
Cousin of Arif Wazir – MNA Ali Wazir, had in a statement said Arif had received three bullets in his body. “The doctors are trying to save his life,” Ali had stated. He was initially admitted to the District Headquarters Hospital, Wana, but later shifted to an Islamabad hospital.
Rights group Amnesty International in a statement on Saturday said authorities must carry out an independent and effective investigation into the attack on Arif Wazir, and that the suspected perpetrators must be held accountable.
Arif Wazir and PTM Movement
Pashtun Protection Movement (PTM) is a social movement for Pashtun human rights-based in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. Formerly called the Mahsud Tahafuz Movement, it was founded by eight students at Gomal University, Dera Ismail Khan as an initiative of de-mining Waziristan and other parts of the former FATA region.
The PTM also fought for greater freedom of movement and demanded on an end to the practices of extrajudicial assassinations, enforced disappearances and unlawful detentions.
PTM has also been critical of the Pakistan Army and blaming them for enforced disappearances and brutal killings of innocent people.