Three killed, two injured as militants attack party

Locals say such cowardly acts won’t affect their morale.

BUNER:

Three people including a transvestite were killed and two injured when unidentified miscreants opened fire at a private party here late on Monday night.

The incident took place at the hujra (a local drawing room separate from the house) of Nek Muhammad in Sorey Union Council.

“The party was going smoothly when some unknown miscreants opened fire, creating chaos and mayhem. They directly targeted the dancers,” said Siraj Muhammad, a local resident.

Hayat Khan, one of the dancers, and Alif Zada, a local villager, were killed on the spot while Bakhte Rawan died of injuries on his way to the hospital.

In addition to that, Sarfaraz, another dancer and Asif Ali, were also injured during the firing incident and were immediately taken to Peshawar for treatment.

Murad Khan, an elder of the area, explained that the militants wanted to enter Buner during their rule in Swat.

However the villagers decided to fight them and formed a party to block their way into Buner.

“We were against them then, we are against them now and we will never let them come in future either. This incident speaks volumes about their standards. They consider coming in the darkness of night and killing innocent people as a ‘supreme’ act, which only shows how coward they are,” he said.

According to the local police, an FIR has been registered against unknown persons and investigations are underway.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 20^th, 2011.