High court judge, driver injured in Peshawar targeted attack

Justice Ayub Marwat's condition stabilising, driver out of danger

PESHAWAR: A judge of the Peshawar High Court, Justice Ayub Marwat, and his driver were injured as unidentified attackers opened fire at a vehicle in Hayatabad on Thursday morning.

According to SSP Operations Zahoor Afridi, two unidentified attackers fired multiple shots at the car with a pistol and a Kalashnikov gun.

He said the attack took place minutes after the judge departed from his residence. "Two unidentified attackers were waiting for the judge's car and they fired indiscriminately at the vehicle," SSP Afridi said in an informal briefing to reporters.

Peace committee chief shot dead in Peshawar

"Justice Ayub suffered two bullet wounds, one to his right forearm and another above his eye. His condition is now stable and he has been shifted to a ward."

The officer said the driver, Muhammad Gul, was shot once in the left arm and his condition was completely out of danger at the Hayatabad Medical Complex.

Responding to a question about the judge's missing security protocol, SSP Afridi said efforts were being made to ascertain the reasons for the missing security cover.

The chief executive officer of North West Hospital, where Justice Ayub is admitted, also confirmed that the judge was out of danger.

Dr Zia-ur-Rehman said the PHC judge was still under treatment but had been in stable enough condition to converse with family members.

The attack on Justice Ayub comes over a month after the chief of a local peace committee in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bara tehsil was shot dead in Peshawar on January 19.

Malik Mir Alam Afridi was fatally shot by two motorcycle riders near the Hayatabad Toll Plaza in Peshawar.

Afridi’s murder was the second target killing on Peshawar’s Ring Road in a span of weeks, following an attack on journalists Noorul Hasan and Sabir on December 3 last year.