At least three persons became victims of target killing in a village of Dera Ismail Khan on Sunday morning.
The violent act occurred at the village Ghosar in tehsil Parwa. In reaction, people of the area blocked the Indus highway for traffic. Police official said that three friends namely Ali Zafar, Saqlain and Jamil were on a walk to fields late on Sunday morning when they were ambushed by unknown armed persons.
The armed persons opened indiscriminate firing killing all three on the spot, and the assailants succeeded in escaping on a motorbike.
Mukhtiar—father of Saqlain; a leading figure of Shia community—had also been a victim of target killing. This act is considered a continuation of sectarian violence in DI Khan. So far no one claimed responsibility for the latest sectarian violence. Later, after coming to know about the gruesome violent act, people from all over Ghosar and its surrounding areas came out on roads and staged a protest on the main Indus highway, disconnecting traffic in the process.
A large number of vehicles, mostly trucks and trailers loaded with goods, were stranded on the road from both sides. A couple of weeks back, militants associated with Islamic State, through leaflets, threatened violent attacks against people from Shia community all over Kurram and Aurakzai agencies of the tribal belt, along with Hangu, Kohat and Dera Ismail Khan.
Meanwhile, Mardan police claimed to foil an attempt of blowing up a government school by defusing two high-intensity bombs. The bombs, each weighing two and a half kilogramme, were planted by unknown persons along the boundary walls of Government High School Baladheri. Police officials and personnel of bomb disposal squad (BDS) rushed to the site and defused both the bombs.
