Spiral of violence: Two Afghan nationals gunned down in Chaman
Two militants killed, four paramilitary troops injured in Lehri gunfight.
The two Afghans died on the spot and their bodies were shifted to the Civil Hospital Chaman for autopsy. STOCK PHOTO
QUETTA:
Two Afghan nationals were shot dead by gunmen in the Pak-Afghan border town of Chaman on Sunday. Elsewhere in the troubled province, two militants were killed and four paramilitary troops injured in a clash triggered by an abortive ambush in Lehri district.
“Gunmen riding on motorcycles opened fire on two Afghan nationals who had come from the other side of the border,” Qila Abdullah’s Deputy Commissioner Asad Nasir told The Express Tribune. The gunmen fled the scene unidentified and unchallenged. The two Afghans died on the spot and their bodies were shifted to the Civil Hospital Chaman for autopsy. The victims were later identified as Rozi Gul and Ahmed Allah, both residents of the southern Afghan province of Helmand.
According to some media reports, the victims were members of the Afghan National Police. Deputy Commissioner Nasir, however, did not confirm that. “The bodies will be handed over once their relatives approach us,” he added. The motive for the killings was not immediately known. Thousands of people cross the Pak-Afghan border through Chaman border crossing every day. However, security has been stepped up after the deteriorating law and order situation in the province.
In other violence, at least four Frontier Corps soldiers were injured when a group of Baloch separatists opened fire on their convoy in Lehri district on Sunday. “The FC vehicles were on routine patrol in the Terer Nallah area of the district when they were ambushed,” an FC spokesperson told The Express Tribune.
The FC troops returned the fire triggering a gunfight that left two of the attackers dead. The injured paramilitary soldiers were driven to a hospital where medics said their wounds were not life threatening. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the ambush – but Baloch separatist groups carried out such attacks in the past.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 2nd, 2015.
Two Afghan nationals were shot dead by gunmen in the Pak-Afghan border town of Chaman on Sunday. Elsewhere in the troubled province, two militants were killed and four paramilitary troops injured in a clash triggered by an abortive ambush in Lehri district.
“Gunmen riding on motorcycles opened fire on two Afghan nationals who had come from the other side of the border,” Qila Abdullah’s Deputy Commissioner Asad Nasir told The Express Tribune. The gunmen fled the scene unidentified and unchallenged. The two Afghans died on the spot and their bodies were shifted to the Civil Hospital Chaman for autopsy. The victims were later identified as Rozi Gul and Ahmed Allah, both residents of the southern Afghan province of Helmand.
According to some media reports, the victims were members of the Afghan National Police. Deputy Commissioner Nasir, however, did not confirm that. “The bodies will be handed over once their relatives approach us,” he added. The motive for the killings was not immediately known. Thousands of people cross the Pak-Afghan border through Chaman border crossing every day. However, security has been stepped up after the deteriorating law and order situation in the province.
In other violence, at least four Frontier Corps soldiers were injured when a group of Baloch separatists opened fire on their convoy in Lehri district on Sunday. “The FC vehicles were on routine patrol in the Terer Nallah area of the district when they were ambushed,” an FC spokesperson told The Express Tribune.
The FC troops returned the fire triggering a gunfight that left two of the attackers dead. The injured paramilitary soldiers were driven to a hospital where medics said their wounds were not life threatening. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the ambush – but Baloch separatist groups carried out such attacks in the past.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 2nd, 2015.