On their own: Pamphlet threatens Masho Khel residents

Fourteen people have been warned of ‘dire consequences’.

PESHAWAR: Unidentified militants pasted a pamphlet in Masho Khel village in the outskirts of the city, threatening 14 residents of dire consequences in the jurisdiction of the Badhaber police station.

Elders told The Express Tribune that a pamphlet pasted on the wall of a shop said that 14 residents of the village, including the brother and nephew of slain Awami National Party (ANP) leader Mian Mushtaq and an assistant sub-inspector, were on their hit-list and would be targeted.

“There was no reason given in the brief letter and neither did it have a Taliban or Lashkar-e-Islam letterhead,” said one of the elders, adding a white page was used to write the message.

He said most villagers have already left their houses for Hayatabad and other parts of the city after militants killed nine men from the same family a month ago, adding the latest threat has made matters worse.

“Our village already wears a deserted look. Not a soul roams the streets after sundown since militants frequent the area in the dark of the night,” the elder informed. He added only those people who are too poor to afford migrating to other parts of Peshawar, remain in the village.

“We are scared for our lives as police have no writ in the area and our hometown is a no man’s land these days,” he added. The village borders the Akka Khel area of the restive Khyber Agency from where militants are able to move in and out with ease.

In January this year, ANP leader Mushtaq was killed near the village along with two people after militants ambushed his vehicle.

On February 1, four members of the same family were gunned down in exchange of fire with a militant who was then killed by the police. Less than two weeks later, nine men of the same family were killed in cold blood when militants stormed their house in Masho Khel village.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 7^th, 2014.