ANP leader shot dead by gunmen in northwest Pak

Peshawar, September 5

Unidentified gunmen on Wednesday gunned down a leader of the liberal Awami National Party (ANP) and his nephew in Pakistan’s restive northwest tribal region, police said.

The unknown gunmen opened fire at the car of ANP leader Mohammad Ibrar Khalil in Tehkal area of Peshawar. Ibrar and his nephew Arshad succumbed to their injuries on way to a hospital, police said.

The motive remained unclear as Khalil, the ANP candidate in PK-74 during the recently-concluded general elections, was party to a longstanding family feud, police said.

In July, during the general election campaign, seasoned ANP politician Haroon Baloor along with 19 others were killed as suicide bomber detonated his vest in Yaka Toot area of Peshawar. 

Meanwhile, in a separate incident at least five people, including a woman, were killed in restive North Waziristan tribal district.

The army has launched a military operation ‘Khyber-4’ under ‘Radd-ul-Fasaad’, which roughly translates to ‘elimination of discord’, to eliminate terrorists and consolidate gains of counter-terrorism operations in the country’s restive northwest tribal region. — PTI