Another peace committee member killed

Swat struggles to fight violence as unidentified miscreants target former member of peace

MINGORA:

Violence has staged a return to the scenic Swat valley as yet another former member of peace committee has been gunned down in the Charbagh Tehsil of the district.

Police told The Express Tribune that Muhammad Shireen was going to mosque to offer his night prayers when he was targeted by unidentified miscreants.

“A pistol was used in the attack and the attackers managed to escape after committing the crime,” said an official of local police, adding that the deceased remained an active member of the local peace committee in his village from 2010 to 2015.

TTP has claimed responsibility for the attack, saying that this man was active in mobilising people against the TTP in the area for which he was targeted.

It may be mentioned here that armed bands of militants appeared in the mountains suddenly on August 5 in the Matta area of Swat.

On August 9 they kidnapped a police DSP and others and later released a video, creating widespread panic among the local residents.

Local residents had taken to the streets to protest against the return of these heavily armed groups.

DIG Malakand during a press briefing said that militants had been given a deadline to leave the area and they left the mountains after the deadline.

On August 8 a retired schoolteacher Muhammad Daud was shot dead in cold blood. He had been shot in the head.

On September 13 Idrees Khan was killed in a roadside IED attack along with two policemen and five labourers. He was coming back from his under-construction house when attacked.

On Wednesday Muhammad Shireen was killed. The entire area has been in the grip of widespread panic.

Extortion demands are also increasing each passing day in the district creating unrest among the business class.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 16^th, 2022.