BAJAUR: Unidentified assailants shot dead an elderly Jamaat-i-Islami activist in Salarzai teshil of the Bajaur tribal district, police and residents said on Tuesday.

They said the incident occurred in Gaang locality on Monday evening.

They said Sahibzada Jan Badshah was returning home after offering evening prayers in a mosque when he was targeted. They said the victim, 60, also a cousin of JI former MNA Sahibzada Haroon Rasheed, was seriously wounded.

The villagers and family members shifted the injured to the District Headquarters Hospital, Khar, where he succumbed to injuries.

A statement issued by the JI local chapter chief Sardar Khan condemned the murder, and urged the authorities to arrest the assailants without delay. It said the murder had proved that the police had failed to protect the lives of people.

The police said efforts were underway to arrest the people involved in the killing.

The murder also sparked a protest demonstration in Gaang locality, where scores of villagers and political activists blocked the Khar-Munda Road after the funeral prayers of the deceased.

JI deputy chief Qari Abdul Majeed, PML-N district president Gul Kareem Khan and others condemned what they said the rising target killing incidents in the district.

Published in Dawn, March 3rd, 2021