PESHAWAR: Seven members of a family, including two women, were killed and two others received injuries when their close relatives opened firing at their residence at Shaikhe Speen Karae village in Nowshera district on Sunday afternoon.

The bodies, including that of a man and his three sons, and the injured persons were taken to Rashid Shaheed Hospital in Pabbi Town from where the injured were shifted to Lady Reading Hospital (LRH), Peshawar.

An official at the concerned Azakhel police station told Dawn that the incident took place over the issue of recruitment of a Class-IV at a government-run tubewell set up on land of the family.

He said that one of the deceased, Misal Khan, had served at the said tubewell and after his retirement one of his sons was appointed in his place over which his (Misal) brothers and nephews were annoyed.

He said that the relevant officials had gone to the LRH to record statements of the injured persons, following which the FIR would be registered.

The deceased included Misal Khan, his three sons named Bakhtiar, Zahid and Tahir, his daughter-in-law Umat Bibi and granddaughter Sajeela. Another deceased Zabita Khan was also a close relative of the family.

After the occurrence, wife of Misal Khan told mediapersons that her brothers-in-law along with their sons attacked their residence and had started indiscriminate firing which left several members of her family dead.

She said her husband was a watchman at the tubewell and after his retirement one of her sons was appointed against the said post a day earlier.

District police officer Dr Mohammad Iqbal visited the place of occurrence and told mediapersons that they had been raiding different areas to arrest the alleged attackers.

Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2021