ISALMABAD (PAN): Famous poet Murad Shinwari, known for writing lyrics for a number of Pakhto movies, died after protracted ailment in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pukhtunkhwa province on Saturday. He was 85.

A son of renowned poet Hamza Shinwari, he had been under medical treatment in a Peshawar hospital for the last two years and a half. Shinwari breathed his last at 8:45am today, Dr. Inayat-ur-Rehman told Pajhwok Afghan News.

His funeral was attended by relatives, tribal elders and poets in the Khogakhel village of the Landikotal sub-district of Khyber tribal region in the afternoon.

With a masters in Pakhto literature, Shinwari had served as librarian at the Pakhto Academy, University of Peshawar. Like his father, he commanded a lot of fame and respect as a poet.

On behalf of President Hamid Karzai, the Afghan embassy in Islamabad had provided financial assistance to Sajjad Shinwari, the son of the ailing writer, on Jan. 19.

mas/mud