KHAR/TANK/LANDI KOTAL: Four members of different local peace committees were killed in separate incidents in Bajaur and Khyber agencies and Tank district on Wednesday while a member of a banned militant outfit was shot dead by a peace volunteer in Bara.
In Bajaur Agency, unidentified gunmen shot dead Malik Yarzaman Khan, a member of Salarzai Peace Committee, in Singery area of tehsil Salarzai.
According to the officials of local administration, Malik Yarzaman Khan, 46, was on way to his home when unidentified armed persons opened firing on him. They said that the peace volunteer was killed on the spot while the assailants managed to escape.
The residents of the area and members of local peace committee rushed to the spot and cordoned off the area. Officials and personnel of Bajaur Levies also reached there soon after the incident and launched a search operation to trace the attackers.
According to a senior official, at least four suspected persons have been arrested in the search operation.
“We have launched an inquiry into the incident while several persons including some suspects and local tribesmen have been arrested under the collective responsibility clause of the Frontier Crime Regulation,” the official said. No group has claimed responsibility for the incident.
In Tank, a member of a defunct peace committee was shot dead by unidentified persons in Omar Adda locality before Iftar on Wednesday.
The residents of the area said that Iqbal Khan was going home from the bazaar when the attackers opened firing on him, killing him on the spot. They said that Iqbal Khan was affiliated with the defunct peace committee led by Turkistan Bettani in Tank.
Police registered a case on the complaint of the father of Iqbal Khan against unidentified persons and started investigation.
Earlier this week, Laaes Khan, another member of the defunct peace committee was killed by unidentified attackers in the same locality. The local people said that the attackers were targeting the members of the former peace committee as they resisted militants in the area.
In Landi Kotal, Khyber Agency, two members of a peace committee were killed and six injured in exchange of fire in Tirah valley on Tuesday.
Sources in the area said some members of the peace committee in Bagh Maidan were opposed to the command of Meenar Khan alias Meenari.
They said members of the peace committee had a heated argument on the matter, which led to the exchange of fire killing two and injuring six.
The sources said the fighting members were later pacified by local tribal elders.
Meanwhile, the activist of a banned outfit was killed by a volunteer of a local peace committee in Bara on Wednesday. Sources said that Laeeq Shah along with his colleagues was patrolling Nawgazee Bara area in Shalobar when he was attacked by a volunteer of Shalobar Peace Committee.
Laeeq Shah was killed on the spot while the unidentified peace volunteer managed to escape.
Also, a Nato fighter plane intruded into Pakistani air space late on Wednesday, creating fear and panic among the residents of border town of Torkham.
Local officials said that the lone plane flew in Pakistani airspace for few minutes and then went back to Afghanistan.