Targeted attacks: Two security force members killed, one critically injured

Three days of Eid in Charsadda proved dangerous for members of security forces.

SHABQADAR: Eidul Fitr was less than festive in Charsadda district as three men from security outfits were attacked, two of whom lost their lives.

On Monday, when Eid was unofficially observed by many in the region, a member of the Frontier Corps Mohmand Rifles was attacked near a police check post in Shabqadar.

Sajjid Hussain was praying at a roadside mosque when an unidentified motorcyclist shot at him. Hussain was critically injured and rushed to hospital in Peshawar. Witnesses said the police at the check post failed to stop the assailant or open retaliatory fire on him.

Fakhar-e-Alam, a constable with the Rangers in Karachi, was in Charsadda for Eid holidays when he was gunned down on Tuesday.

Alam, the lone male member of his family, was shot dead in Station Korona within the limits of the City police station by an unidentified assailant on a motorcycle. According to police official Ijaz Khan, Alam died instantly.

Another official of the Mohmand Rifles was attacked on Thursday, officially day three of the festivities.

Roohul Ameen from Tangi, Charsadda, who worked at the Rifles’ intelligence unit, was en route from his house to the unit to report for duty when he was gunned down. Tangi police official Noorullah said the assailant was an unidentified person on a motorcycle.

According to local reports, although security was to remain on high alert during Eid holidays, many police men were seen ill-armed and out of uniform in the area. Police officials said the police force is lacking man power in the district even though it sees frequent incidents of target killing.

At an Eid gathering for tribal elders in Mohmand, Mohmand Rifle Commandant Colonel Omar Bukhari expressed his concerns about target killings.

Militants from the north of the tribal area have spread to other parts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, said Bukhari.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 1^st, 2014.