Two suspected militants, including a nephew of the slain Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) founder Baitullah Mehsud, and policeman were killed in a firefight on the outskirts of Bannu city on Sunday.
“Around 6:00pm two men travelling in an auto rickshaw were signalled by Constable Muhammad Arif at Abshar Chowk to stop for checking,” Mir Qadir Shah, an official of Basya Khel police, told The Express Tribune.
The men, however, opened fire at the constable killing him on the spot.
“They also snatched his rifle and fled,” Shah said. As the two men reached the Basya Khel checkpoint, police waved to stop them but they opened fire and in retaliatory fire both were killed.
Police recovered four AK-47 assault rifles, four hand grenades, 12 magazines, two wireless sets, two mobile phones and one pistol from the three-wheeler, the official said. The bodies of the alleged militants were taken to the District Headquarters Hospital for autopsy.
The official identified them as Muhammad Ibrahim and Asmatullah. According to intelligence information, Ibrahim was a nephew of Baitullah Mehsud, the TTP founding chief who was killed in a US drone strike in South Waziristan in 2009.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 12th, 2012.
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