PESHAWAR, Sept 7: Local police have seized four vehicles abandoned by gunmen on Kohat Road on Friday night after the firing on vehicles.

However, they are still clueless about the target of the firing.

“We have taken into custody four vehicles abandoned in Janay Khwar area but have yet to know about their owners,” police official Noorul Basar told Dawn on Saturday.

Mr Basar said the seized vehicles included two motorcars and two pickups.

He said in the attack, eight people were killed and one injured.

Another official said the victims had been identified and four of them belonged to same family.

He said it seemed they were hit by a rocket shell.

The official said the firing, which led to suspension of vehicular traffic on Kohat Road, claimed the lives of Mansoor Khan of Quetta, son Mohammad Yousaf and grandson Zakirullah, Wajid Khan of Darra Adamkhel, Raj Wali, Naseebullah, and Mohammad Din and brother Yehya.

He said the gunmen had laid an ambush to kidnap the people riding in a jeep and when the jeep showed up, they began firing on it.

“The colour and shape of the jeep is like that of a military vehicle but later police learned that it was driven by Mansoor Khan from Quetta, who was in the town on a picnic trip,” he said.

He said police suspected the attackers might have kidnapped some people before fleeing to the Frontier Region.

The official said police had registered a case against unidentified gunmen before beginning investigation into it.

Meanwhile, police on Saturday denied the blast on premises of Hashtnagri police station was that of motorcycle bombing and said it was caused by a hand grenade hurled by unidentified motorcyclists, who escaped after the attack. — Bureau Report