Attack on Dr. Gulalai Wali

Doctor Gulalai Wali who is the daughter of the famous politician, former National Awami Party leader & ANP chief Abdul Wali Khan and sister of Asfand Yar Wali Khan, current ANP President & Member National Assembly was attacked by unknown gun men in Khyber Bazar, Peshawar. She escaped the attack with a minor injury.

ANP MNA Bushra Gohar contacted PSF UOM Media Cell & condemned the incident saying:
"I want to strongly condemn the targeted attack on Dr. Gulalai Wali. These cowardly acts of targeting family members of ANP leaders will not weaken our resolve to cleanse our motherland of terrorism and extremism". (Media Cell PSF UOM)


Dr Gulalai, escaped the attempt on her life Monday while returning from her clinic in the Karachi Market in Khyber Bazaar.


The attack was third on high-profile personalities in Peshawar and its surroundings since July 23. However, it is the first time that a woman has been targeted. Eyewitnesses said two motorcyclists waiting in the Karachi Market area opened fire at Dr Gulalai, who is a known surgeon, soon after she left her clinic for home at around 8:30 pm. There were reports that the attackers fired three bullets, one of which hit Dr Gulalai in the arm.


Mian Iftikhar Hussain, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa information minister, said one attacker waiting outside the clinic of Dr Gulalai escaped in a car parked nearby after shooting at the sister of the ANP chief. He added that Dr Gulalai sustained bullet wounds on her arm but her condition was out of danger.


“This is continuation of the target killing incidents, the first victim of which was my son Rashid Hussain. Commandant Frontier Constabulary (FC) Safwat Ghayur also was a victim of this series of target killings,” Mian Ifikhar Hussain explained.

The minister said that Dr Gulalai was driving her car and wasn’t accompanied by anyone. “She is a doctor and a large number of patients visit clinics of doctors. How can all these people be searched?” questioned the information minister when asked whether such a prominent member of Wali Khan’s family was accompanied by any security guard.


Dr Gulalai, also the aunt of Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti, was rushed to hospital immediately after sustaining bullet wounds. Dr Gulalai is married to a physician, Dr Jehanzeb, and has three children. She runs a clinic in the crowded Karachi Market in Khyber Bazaar.


There were intelligence reports that political figures, police officers and other high-profile individuals can be targeted by terrorists. It was also reported that several teams of such attackers had been sent to Peshawar to attack the high-profile people.


The only son of Mian Iftikhar was the first high-status target recently, who was assassinated in an attack in his hometown Pabbi on July 23. He was shot dead while taking a walk along with a cousin Amjad Hussain near his house in Pabbi in Nowshera district.


In another attack, a suicide bomber was dispatched on July 25 to blow himself up at the house of Mian Iftikhar where a large number of women were present to offer condolences to the family on the death of his son. The bomber, however, had to detonate explosives around his body when intercepted by the policemen. Nine people were killed in the blast.


On August 4, the Commandant of Frontier Constabulary and one of the popular police officers of Pakistan, Safwat Ghayur, was killed in another target killing incident when a suicide bomber blew himself up near his car at the FC Chowk, Peshawar. Four passers-by were also killed while 10 injured in the attack.

Apart from these prominent figures, a number of leaders of different Qaumi Lashkars in tribal agencies were also attacked in Peshawar. They had moved to the provincial capital after threats to their lives from militants.

(Tuesday, August 10, 2010 by Javed Aziz Khan, The News)