PTI minority minister gunned down in K-P

Sardar Soran Singh was on his way when armed gunmen opened indiscriminate fire on his car, killing him on the spot

PESHAWAR/ ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister on Minority Affairs Sardar Soran Singh was shot dead by armed attackers in Buner on Friday.

"Gunmen riding on two motorbikes came in front of the car and started indiscriminate firing which killed the minister on the spot," Khalid Hamadani, district police chief told AFP.

He said the minister, an MPA of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), received several bullets to his head in a shooting.



District council member Riaz Khan told The Express Tribune Singh was going home and was shot dead right in-front of his house.

The incident was confirmed by the provincial information minister Mushtaq Ghani.

According to Reuters, Singh had come from Peshawar to his native village in Buner.

K-P chief minister Pervaiz Khattak condemned the killing, directing the authorities concerned to arrest the culprits at the earliest.

CM KP applauds Soran Singh's struggle for democracy; law enforcement agencies directed 2 arrest killers & punish pic.twitter.com/SkF9d4BABS

— Information Department KP (@infokpgovt) April 22, 2016

Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif also expressed sorrow over the killing.

. @CMShehbaz expressed sympathy and condoled with the relatives of the deceased.

— Punjab 2013-18 (@Punjab13to18) April 22, 2016

Chief Minister Punjab @CMShehbaz has expressed deep sorrow over the tragic death of PTI MPA Suran Singh in Buner.

— Punjab 2013-18 (@Punjab13to18) April 22, 2016

The PTI also condemned the killing, saying Islam's laws and Constitution provided for the protection of religious minorities.

"The brutal killing of Soran Singh is extremely saddening," a PTI statement attributed to Khan said, describing Singh as a patriotic Pakistani and a loyal party worker.

Sikhs make up less than 1 per cent of Pakistan's 190 million people.

MPA Sardar Soran Singh was a brave politician who worked for welfare of minorities in KP & PTI in Buner @ShahidKPak pic.twitter.com/Q3lI1V3DEO

— PTI (@PTIofficial) April 22, 2016

According to police, at least eight Sikhs have been killed in the northwest in 2013 and 2014 - the first recorded sectarian killings of Sikhs in country’s history.

TTP claims responsibility

The outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for Singh’s killing.

TTP Spokesperson Muhammad Khorasani said sharp shooters of the group's special task force targeted Singh in Pir Baba area.