Shabqadar showdown: Three militants killed in 90-minute shootout

SHABQADAR:

Police fought one-and-a-half hour long gunbattle with alleged militants that ended with all three suspects killed in Shabqadar on Wednesday night. Police officials in Shabqadar have confirmed the encounter in Akhon Zafar Baba graveyard.

According to police, a patrol party saw some suspect moving suspiciously in the area. When police stopped the suspects for checking, they opened fire. The ensuing gunfight started at 8pm and ended at 9:30pm.

The firing was so intense that the police had to call for backup. The crackle of automatic gunfire created panic in the area.

When the firing stopped and the smoke cleared, the militants had escaped leaving behind three corpses and a large cache of ammunition. Police are trying to identify the dead.

After an ‘all-clear’ message, the police high-ups came and overlooked a search operation in the area. This is the same area where militants detonated an IED in front of a house on Monday and fired a missile on another house on Saturday.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 24^th, 2015.