Three killed in firing at jirga held to resolve family dispute.
The bodies of five people who were killed in a targeted attack in Sohrab Goth area were sent to their hometown in Ambar, Mohmand Agency, for burial on Friday and reached home on Saturday.
The deceased include Mohammadullah, 45, son of Gulab Khan; Ajab Khan, 55, son of Dawa Khan; Fareed Khan, 40, son of Hunar Khan; Zahir Shah, 45, son of Gul Amin Shah; and Usman, 46, son of Hazrat Wali. The injured include Naeem Khan, Javed Khan and Saeed who are currently receiving treatment at Civil Hospital, Karachi.
Police investigators said at least 50 people were sitting in a compound owned by Hassan Khan, who provides labourers on contract to the government and non-governmental organisations. Investigators revealed that six to seven armed men on at least three motorcycles entered the compound and opened fire at eight people after identifying their faces using torch lights.
Ayub Khan, a resident of Ambar, said the deceased were working in Karachi and were associated with the local peace militia in Ambar. They knew they could either be targeted for this or because they were Pukhtuns, he speculated.
Another local, Rohul Ameen rejected the notion that the deceased men had any relationship with the peace militia. He instead said they had suffered at the hands of local militia chief Sahib Khan for not being part of it. Ameen along with many others alleged that a political party may have been behind their deaths and that this party probably has a rivalry with Pukhtuns in Karachi.
Police have yet to ascertain the motive behind the killing. The case is being investigated from different angles, including the possibility of a personal enmity as well as the involvement of a local group associated with Tehreek-e-Taliban in the area.
DSP Qamar Ahmed said the victims were related to each other. The police are trying to solve the case using their intelligence network and forensic evidence collected from the crime scene, he added. An FIR was registered against unidentified persons on behalf of their companion, Ali Rehman. No arrest has been made as yet.
Utmankhel tribe, to which the victims belong, resides along the tribal belt, including in Mohmand, Bajaur and Malakand. In Ambar, this tribe had cordial relations with the TTP, but later turned against the banned outfit. While in Laman Prang Ghar, Mohmand and Barang, Bajaur strong tribal bonds kept outlawed organisations away from the area.
The tribe had earlier suffered multiple attacks, including the killing of five labourers in Rawalpindi and a suicide attack in Ekka Ghund killing over 80 people.
Meanwhile, three people were killed and four others injured in a shootout at a jirga in Kangrah area of Shabqadar tehsil in Charsadda district on Saturday.
Battagram police official, Hayat Khan said that at around 3pm, three people were killed while attending a jirga held to resolve a dispute between a couple. Pari Bibi, wife of Aziz Khan, a resident of Kangrah, had gone to her parent’s house in Ashrafabad area of Mardan following a dispute with her husband. On Saturday afternoon, Bibi’s father and brothers came to her in-laws house to sort out the dispute, said Khan.
During the jirga, one of the relatives of Aziz identified as Muhammad Amin opened fire after a heated argument with Bibi’s father Abdullah. Abdullah, Aziz Khan and their relative Akbar Shah died as
a result.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 13th, 2013.
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