Targeted attack: Four of a family killed in raid near Kandhkot

Deceased may have been suspected to be ‘informant’, locals say.

SUKKUR:

Four members of a family, including a woman and a minor girl, were killed and two others injured when a group of men armed with rocket launchers and guns raided Jaffer Abad village on the confluence of Sindh-Balochistan border near Kandhkot.

The armed men reportedly broke into the house of a local, Mir Hassan Marhata, on Sunday night and opened fire on the residents, who were sleeping at the time. Marhata and his wife Azra, their son Rustam and granddaughter Soomri were killed on the spot. Two others, Mour Khan and Shamshad, were injured.

Jaffer Abad village falls in the jurisdiction of Bhittai Colony police. Sources said the police reached the crime scene but were hesitant to go too close to the house as they suspected the attackers were still inside.

After two hours, the police entered the house and shifted the bodies and the injured to Tangwani Hospital. On Monday morning, the bodies were handed over to relatives; the injured are still undergoing treatment.

Sources say that fights often break out in the area between pro- and anti-government tribesmen. They said the attackers belonged to an anti-government tribe and suspected that Marhata was an informant for law enforcement officials.

SHO Bhittai Colony Police Station Imtiaz Khuhawar said a case had been registered on the complaint of Marhata’s cousin and an FIR lodged against 20 unidentified persons. No arrests have been made.

He suspected that the attackers crossed over into Sindh after the incident. According to Khuhawar, Marhata had previously asked the attackers to stay away from the village.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 15^th, 2014.