Militants killed, two cops injured in Bannu gunfight

Local JUI-F cleric shot dead in Bajaur tribal district

BANNU:

A terrorist was killed and two Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) personnel were injured in exchange of firing in Bannu district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) on Tuesday.

In a separate incident a local cleric was shot dead in Bajaur tribal district.

Police told The Express Tribune that two CTD employees were on duty in cattle market in the jurisdiction of City Police Station when they were attacked by a miscreant.

“The attacker opened fire at Shafidullah Khan and Arshad Ali in which both of them were injured but even then then they returned the fire and killed the attacker,” said a police official while talking to The Express Tribune.

“The body of the attacker has been taken into possession by police and every effort is being made to establish his identity,” said the official, adding that both the injured had been shifted to hospital where the condition of one of the policemen was said to be critical.

In a separate incident, a former candidate of Jamaiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazal (JUI-F) and local cleric Mufi Bashir Ahman was gunned down by two bike riders in Mamond, Bajaur tribal district of K-P.

“Mufti Bashir was a well-known and respected name in Mamond who was not only politically active but also on the forefront of local Jirga system. He contested election in 2008 on JUI-F ticket but lost,” said a police official while talking to The Express Tribune.

It may be recalled that that this is the fifth JUI-F leader who has been targeted by militants in Bajaur. ISIS Korasan claimed responsibility for all these attacks.

On April 13, a school teacher was killed in a bomb blast in the same Mamond tehsil of Bajaur district.

Police said that Mufti Shafiullah was an Arabic teacher in Government High School Badan and he was targeted in a roadside bomb attack while on his way to school as per his daily routine.

“Mufti Shaifullah was going to school. As per his habit he walked to school and during his walk an IED device exploded near him. He was left seriously injured in the explosion and rushed to the hospital where he succumbed to his injuries,” district police officer (DPO) Bajaur Abdul Sumad Khan told The Express Tribune.

“The deceased was an active member of JUI-F,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 27^th, 2022.