...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
on Sunday, police said, hours after a kaboom in another part of the region killed five.
Mian Mushtaq, a former high-ranking member of the secular Awami National Party (ANP) that ruled the northwestern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central...
province until last year, was in his car when he was attacked, senior police official Rahim Shah told AFP.
"Up to four gunnies had taken position on both sides of a road and as soon as Mian Mushtaq's car passed they started firing and fled in the nearby fields," Shah said.
"Mian Mushtaq and two others died in the firing," he added.
The ANP is known for its outspoken views against the Taliban and backed military operations against the turbans while it ruled the restive Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province for five years till March 2013.
Imran Khan
... aka
Taliban Khan, who who convinced himself that playing cricket qualified him to lead a nuclear-armed nation with severe personality problems...
's Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf
...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is
Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations....
(PTI) has now formed a coalition government in the province but ANP leaders remain in the Death Eaters' sights.
Earlier in the day two roadside kabooms targeting Amir Muqam of the ruling Pakistain Moslem League Nawaz (PML-N) party killed five of his security detail in the Martoong area of Swat
...a valley and an administrative district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistain, located 99 mi from Islamabad. It is inhabited mostly by Pashto speakers. The place has gone steadily downhill since the days when Babe Ruth was the Sultan of Swat...
valley, which the Taliban controlled from 2007-2009.
"At least five coppers were killed and four others were maimed," senior police official Abdullah Khan told AFP.
The dead and maimed were travelling in the security car that was leading the other vehicles, he said.
Another senior police official, Gulzar Khan, confirmed the attack, which was later condemned in a statement by the prime minister's office.
Khan said two improvised bombs weighing two kilograms (4.4 pounds) each were remotely detonated minutes apart and a third unwent
kaboom!device found at the scene of the crime was defused by a bomb disposal squad.
Muqam, an adviser to Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf...
, told AFP that he was safe but distraught over the loss of the men in his security detail.
"I thank God for saving my life. I am very sad over the loss of my people who gave their lives while protecting me," he said.
He said that he was travelling in the area with some 15 vehicles in his convoy as part of campaign efforts for local elections.
The Pak Taliban, other Death Eater affiliates and al Qaeda-linked networks all have strongholds in the country's northwest, particularly in the semi-autonomous areas on the Afghan border.