Shooting at musical ceremony leaves five dead in Kohat

Three others injured; incident occurred as two warring parties opened fire at each other during the ceremony

KOHAT:

At least five people were killed and three others were injured in a shootout between two parties at a musical ceremony in the Kaghzai area of Kohat division of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P).

According to Express, the injured and the bodies of the deceased were shifted to the Divisional Headquarter Hospital (DHQ). The deceased were identified as Qaiser, Junaid, Niaz, Abdul Rehman and Qasim-ur-Rehman.

According to Kohat Cantt Station House Officer (SHO) Qismat Khan, the music ceremony was taking place in the room of a man named Mujahid, where two groups exchanged fire over an old enmity.

“A suspect, who has sustained injuries, has been arrested, whereas efforts are afoot to find other suspects,” the police official claimed.

In July, two tribes clashed over the ownership of a strip of land, leaving 15 people dead and 30 others injured in K-P's Kurram district.

Efforts to restore peace through a jirga failed after one of the tribes involved in the clash demanded the release of its people.

A top district administration official, who requested not to be named, said that the clash began on June 29 when the Para Chamkani tribe began construction on what they believed was community-owned land.

The Balishkhel tribe objected to this and claimed that residents of Para Chamkani had encroached upon their land, which is locally called ‘Shamilat’, near the Sadda area of the district, he added.

The conflict then descended into an armed clash, leaving 15 dead, including a paramilitary official, identified as Wajid Yousafzai, from the Mardan district.