By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Terrorists shot dead the leader of a local peace committee and two of his companions in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Sunday, a deadly ambush that underscores the rising tide of militancy threatening community efforts to maintain order in the region.
The attack took place in Lakki Marwat district, where the head of the Shahab Khel peace committee, Ghulam Dastagir, also known as Fauji, was traveling to Qabol Khel with Saleem Khan and Salahuddin. The three were gunned down in the Kara Wanda area, according to Shahid Khan, a spokesperson for the Lakki Marwat police.
“The peace committee chief Ghulam Dastagir alias Fauji and his friends Saleem Khan and Salahuddin were killed,” Shahid said. “A search operation was launched in the area after the incident.”
The killings reflect the escalating militant presence in Lakki Marwat, where attacks have grown more frequent in recent months despite the efforts of peace committees, grassroots groups formed to resist terrorist influence and promote stability. Sunday’s assault marks the latest in a series of strikes targeting these local leaders.
Peace committees across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have faced relentless pressure from terrorists. In April, two separate incidents highlighted the risks these groups endure. On April 29, a fierce gun battle broke out in Lakki Marwat’s Begukhel area between peace committee members and suspects who had allegedly killed an elderly man and wounded his relatives. Earlier that month, a blast ripped through a peace committee office in South Waziristan, killing at least seven people and injuring 16 others.
Wana City police Station House Officer Usman Nazir said the South Waziristan explosion, which occurred around 11 am on April 26, targeted a meeting at the office. “Five of the injured were in critical condition,” he said. “The peace committee office was the target, as there was a meeting going on there at the time of the explosion.” Among the wounded was committee member Saifur Rehman, whose condition, Nazir noted, was not critical.
As violence flared in the northwest, Pakistan’s military reported a separate operation in the southwestern province of Balochistan on Sunday. Security forces killed two militants and arrested two others in Duki district after an intelligence-based raid turned into an intense firefight, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media arm.
“Weapons, ammunition and explosives were also recovered from the Indian-sponsored terrorists, who remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities in the area,” the ISPR said. “Sanitization operation is being conducted to eliminate any other terrorist found in the area.”
Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest but most impoverished province, has been gripped by a long-running insurgency that has intensified in recent months. Separatist militants frequently target security forces, government installations, and people from other provinces, whom they view as outsiders.
Islamabad accuses India of supporting these groups, as well as religiously motivated militants like the Pakistani Taliban in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. India denies the charges.
The Lakki Marwat attack followed a suicide bombing on Saturday near the Afghan border in North Waziristan, where a militant rammed an explosive-laden car into a military convoy, killing at least 13 soldiers. The Pakistani military pointed the finger at Indian sponsored terror groups.
Tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbors have simmered for months. Last month, they traded missile, drone, and artillery fire for four days over a militant attack in occupied Kashmir, which India blamed on Pakistan-backed groups, an accusation Islamabad dismissed.
Copyright © 2021 Independent Pakistan | All rights reserved
