PESHAWAR: Two people were killed and as many suffered injuries in a sectarian attack here on Friday.

The deceased and the injured were members of Shia community.

According to a witness, unidentified gunmen riding in a car targeted the deceased and the injured moments after they came out of Imamia Mosque in Phase I of the posh Hayatabad Township area.

Murtaza Ali and Iqrar Hussain died in the attack instantly, while Dr Ali Ahmad and son Owais suffered bullet injuries.

The injured were shifted to the Hayatabad Medical Complex, where their condition was stated to be critical.

Murtaza Ali was a fresh graduate of the Engineering University Peshawar.

A spokesman for Majlis-i-Wahdatul Muslimeen, Irshad Bangash, said the deceased and the injured belonged to Alizai area of Parachinar tribal area. He said the bodies would be shifted to Parachinar for burial.

The spokesman condemned the attack and said it was the second attack on the Imamia Mosque in the current year. “A group of suicide bombers attacked the same mosque in Feb 2015,” he said.

Bangash said such attacks showed the police’s inability to protect public life and property even in the city’s posh localities.

He warned members of Shia community would agitate if killers were not arrested without delay.

EXTORTIONISTS HELD: The local police on Friday claimed to have arrested three extortionists operating in the city in the name of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan for two years.

Peshawar SSP (operations) Dr Mian Saeed told reporters here that the arrested men belonged to tribal regions and Afghanistan and had admitted involvement in 21 extortion cases.

He said the suspects, including Murad of Khyber Agency, Ghaffar of Mohmand Agency and Jamshed of Afghanistan, had named their accomplices and efforts were underway to arrest them too.

The SSP said in most cases, the extortionists targeted the people they knew well.

BODY RECOVERED: Rescuers on Friday recovered the body of a boy, who drowned in the Bara Khwar on Thursday.

However, the body of the other drowned boy has yet to be recovered.

Published in Dawn, May 23rd, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play