Arif Wazir murder: terrorist attack or an 'inside job'?

ISLAMABAD -- Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) leader Arif Wazir passed away on Saturday after having been critically injured in an attack by unidentified assailants outside his residence in South Waziristan Tribal District late Friday.

Reports said Arif Wazir, who is also the first cousin of Member of the National Assemnly Ali Wazir, was strolling outside his house in Ghwa Khwa, near Wana, when armed men opened fire from a moving vehicle. He received life-threatening injuries and was shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital, Wana.

Later, he was first shifted to Dera Ismail Khan and then Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) Islamabad, where he was pronounced dead. Eyewitnesses said two of the attackers were also wounded in an exchange of fire with Arif Wazir's guards.

Arif was formerly the president of South Waziristan chapter of Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) and chief of FATA Political Alliance, South Waziristan.

In last election, he contested for constituency PK-114 (South Waziristan-II) as an independent candidate, but lost to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidate Naseerullah Wazir. He was recently released from jail on bail in a case related to anti-Pakistan speech he delivered during a visit to Afghanistan.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far. However, reports emerging on social media suggested that the murder was the consequence of an internal rivalry between Arif Wazir and his cousin MNA Ali Wazir.

According to the reports doing rounds on Twitter, both Arif Wazir and Ali Wazir were not on good terms for quite some time. Despite being present in Dera Ismail Khan, Ali Wazir did not go to receive Arif Wazir upon his release from D I Khan jail earlier this week.

Increasing popularity of Arif Wazir was, reportedly, another bone of contention between the two cousins, and one would not attend any protests or gatherings in the area if the other one was present there. Ali Wazir also openly criticized Arif on the hate speech he delivered in Afghanistan on a recent visit. It is said that receiving...