PESHAWAR: A death squad in burqa sent by militants to kill a union council Nazim in nearby Bazidkhel village on Sunday morning failed in its mission, losing three of its members in the encounter.

An officer of the Badbher police station told Dawn that nazim Fahimur Rehman, who has raised an anti-Taliban lashkar in his area, escaped unhurt.

His lashkar had been openly supporting the military operation against the militants.

The assailants came in burqas and armed with Kalashnikov rifles, hand grenades and pistols. They met resistance from the nazim’s men who killed three of them.

Their bodies were shifted to local mortuary for autopsy. So far no one had inquired about nor come forward to claim the bodies, the officer said.

Nazim Rehman identified the dead to Dawn as Sabireen, Farooq and Ahmed, all members of Bara-based militant group Lashkar-i-Islam.

‘I don’t know exactly how many attackers came, but they came in five vehicles. When we fell three of them, the rest fled,’ he said. His bodyguards recovered three Kalashnikovs, three pistols and hand grenades from the attackers.

The nazim said that Lashkar-i-Islam chief Mangal Bagh, a local councillor Gul Mast, Jamshid of Sango, LI commander Saifur, Afghan nationals Qadir, Wahid, Mukhtiar and some unidentified persons were responsible for the attack.

‘We have provided lists and pointed out the number and places of Lashkar-i-Islam activists in Peshawar to the authorities concerned in the past, but no action has been taken against them so far,’ he said, adding that Badbher, Sarband, Bazid Khel, Surizai, Tarnab, Ormar and Kachori were the main localities where LI had hundreds of activists armed with sophisticated weapons.

‘Action against them is a must,’ stressed the nazim.

Mr Rehman said that Lashkar-i-Islam militants have made at least six attempts on his life but he was lucky to survive each time.

He said that Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan and Lashkar-i-Islam had joined hands since the launch of military operations in Khyber Agency. Both the groups were jointly carrying out sabotage acts in Peshawar, he said.

He said that a bomb blast at his residence on Feb 4, 2009, was also sponsored by Lashkar-i-Islam wherein nine of his co-villagers were killed.

Mr Rehman alleged that the suicide bomber, who blew himself up in Momin Town, had been bought by Mangal Bagh for Rs1 million from Taliban of Orakzai Agency more than two months ago for a different target.

Referring to the incidents of killing of policemen in Sarband, five people in Bazidkhel, 13 people in Shaikhan and slaughtering of police inspector Tariq, the nazim said Lashkar-i-Islam was directly involved in those incidents but no effective action had been taken against it.

He is the second union council nazim, in the suburban areas of Peshawar, who has been attacked by militants within eight days. Earlier, Adezai union council nazim Haji Abdul Malik, who was also leading an anti-Taliban lashkar in his village, was killed in a suicide attack at Matani cattle market on Nov 8.