A powerful explosion targeted the vehicle of local JUI-F leader Maulana Noorullah on Thursday near a seminary in the lower South Waziristan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, police said.

The explosion hit Maulana Noorullah’s car near Shahzad Madrassah, adjacent to a police station in the district’s Azam Warsak market. According to a police statement, the bomb attack was carried out to target Maulana Noorullah, who remained unharmed.

Police confirmed the incident and said there were no casualties in the explosion. Security forces cordoned off the area and started an investigation.

According to a video later released by the JUI-F, Maulana Noorullah told his supporters that he was accompanied by local party leaders Maulana Ishaq and Maulana Amanullah when the blast occurred.

“We all are safe,” he told his supporters. “We want peace in the country and protection of religious schools, mosques and all Muslims.”

JUI-F leaders have been targeted in different parts of KP and Balochistan over the past several months.

On March 14 this year, a bomb exploded at a mosque in South Waziristan district during Friday prayers, injuring JUI district chief Abdullah Nadeem and three others, police said. Nadeem was seriously wounded, while three others, also belonging to the JUI, sustained minor injuries.

Local JUI-F leaders have also come under attack in Balochistan. On April 25, a local leader of the JUI-F and two women were killed and five others were injured in a roadside explosion near the Kalat district.

The incident occurred in the Kapootu area when a pickup vehicle carrying eight people was hit by an improvised explosive device (IED) planted on the roadside near Killi Kapootu, according to Levies officials.

The vehicle was coming from Kalat when the blast took place. The pickup was driven by JUI-F local leader and union council member Maulana Abdullah Nachari.

In another incident on March 2, two leaders of JUI-F Balochistan were killed in the Zehri area of Khuzdar district in Balochistan.

The JUI-F leaders, Wadera Ghulam Sarwar and Molvi Amanullah were on their way home in the Tarsani area of Zehri when unknown assailants riding motorcycles opened fire on them with automatic weapons.

Both died on the spot after being shot multiple times, while the security guard of one of the leaders received bullet injuries.