KHAR: Unknown assailants shot dead a local leader of Pakistan Peoples Party in Bajaur tribal district, officials and party workers confirmed here on Thursday.

They said that Mian Gul Jan, senior vice-president of PPP, Bajaur chapter, was on way to his home on Wednesday night when unidentified gunmen opened fire on him near his home in Khar. They said that the 55-year-old activist received multiple bullets on his head and chest and he died on way to the DHQ hospital.

The party workers said that Mr Jan was a committed activist who had been associated with PPP for the last two decades.

The family members told this correspondent that he had no personal dispute with anyone in the region.

Officials of both the administration and Levies force said that they had launched a search operation in the area to arrest the attackers.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. Mr Jan was laid to rest in his native Khar town on Thursday.

Meanwhile, PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari strongly condemned the killing of Mian Gul Jan.

In a tweet, he termed the murder of Gul Jan a brutal targeted killing and called for an independent inquiry into the incident to bring the perpetrators to justice.

In a separate incident, two persons were seriously injured when unknown assailants attacked their car near Jinnah bus terminal here on Thursday.

Officials said that the injured were identified as Ibrar Khan, area manager of State Life local chapter, and his friend Zakir Khan.

Published in Dawn, October 18th, 2019