MIRAMSHAH: Targeted killings continue in North Waziristan tribal district as five more people were killed in two firing incidents during the night between Monday and Tuesday, police said.

The first incident was reported from the Tapai area near Miramshah where attackers opened fire on a motorcycle, killing two people.

In the other incident, gunmen fired at another moving motorcycle in the Shewa area and killed three people.

Bodies of the victims of the first attack were taken to the District Headquarters Hospital in Miramshah and those of three people slain in the second incident to the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital in Mirali.

The rise in targeted killing of civilians and attacks on security forces in North Waziristan and South Waziristan districts have created fear among the local population.

A prominent leader of the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement, Arif Wazir, was killed in an attack near Wana on May 2.

Ten personnel of security forces were martyred in North Waziristan district in April alone while six suffered injuries in attacks and clashes with militants.

The law enforcement agencies are yet to arrest target killers.

Our correspondent adds from Parachinar: The caretaker of an Imambargah in Lower tehsil of Kurram tribal district, who had been injured in a bomb blast on Monday, died in hospital on Tuesday.

Officials said that explosives planted at the wall of the Imambargah in the Shorko area near the Afghan border went off with a loud explosion. The blast badly damaged the building of the Imambargah.

Amanullah was giving the prayer call for morning prayers when the blast occurred. He received serious injuries and was shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital in Parachinar.

District Police Officer Qurish Khan said that investigations were underway in the blast and no arrest had been made so far.

Provincial president of the Shia Ulema Council Allama Hamid Hussain condemned the attack on the Imambargah and urged the government to take action against those elements who wanted to instigate sectarian rift in the area.

Published in Dawn, May 7th, 2020