PESHAWAR, July 11: Police commandos on Monday shot dead a leopard which reportedly killed six women in northwestern Pakistan, officials said. They lured the leopard into a forested area with a caged goat and then sprayed the cat with bullets when it fell for the trap, said Feroz Shah, a senior police officer in Abbottabad.

“Police commandos fired 15 bullets to kill the leopard,” Shah told AFP.

The big cat was killed about 200 yards (metres) from the spot where it was thought to have mauled a woman on Friday, he said.

“We are 100 per cent sure it is the same leopard,” Shah said, without specifying how.

The leopard was blamed for fatal attacks on six women who had gone to collect firewood from the mountainous region during the last two weeks.

Shah said the authorities dispatched the commando team over the weekend to hunt down the animal and also warned people to stay away from the forest.