Killing spree: Village defence committee member shot dead

Saadullah, 50, was sitting in his shop when the assailants struck.

MATTA:

Members of village defence committees continue to be targeted with impunity in Swat as yet another one was shot dead by unidentified people in Sherpalam, Matta tehsil on Tuesday morning.

Fifty-year-old Saadullah Khan was sitting in his shop after offering Fajr prayers when the gunmen entered and shot him in the head from close range, the police said. The defence committee member died on the spot.

Following the shooting, security forces and police arrived at the site and cordoned off the area. A search operation was launched but like all other previous instances of such target killings, the attackers escaped undetected. Later, the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the attack.



What vigilance?

The latest murder has sparked anger among locals who have demanded the immediate arrest of the culprits. The spike in target killing of village defence committee and peace militia members over the past few weeks despite the presence of numerous checkpoints across Swat has left residents unnerved.

“For the last one month, security forces have beefed up security at check posts where they thoroughly investigate all commuters and delay their journey for hours in the process. However, the unabated target killings put a question mark on these security measures,” said Abdul Wahid, a social activist in Mingora.

Spate of violence

On September 15, three committee members were shot dead in different areas of Kabal tehsil. Zahir Shah was on his way to the school where he taught when unidentified assailants shot him dead in Gul Jabba, while Mohammad Zeb and Farid Khan were walking home when they were ambushed in Bara Bandai.



The fourth village defence committee member to be targeted in such a manner was Ashraf Khan who was also a local ANP leader. Khan was heading to Matta Bazaar from his village in Koza Bama Khela on October 4 when he was targeted. The assailants were waiting for him and opened indiscriminate fire, killing Khan and critically injuring his police escort Nadir Khan, who later died in the hospital.

After Ashraf Khan’s death, a curfew was imposed in Matta Bazaar and other areas and the security forces conducted a search op, however, no arrests were made.

Since 2009, around 22 village defence committee members have been shot dead by unidentified people, but to date not a single target killer has been traced or held by law-enforcement agencies for any of the murders.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 29^th, 2014.