PESHAWAR: A clash between rival groups over a piece of land left five persons dead and one injured in Pishtakhara area here on Monday, the police said.

A police statement said the gunfight took place during a jirga convened to discuss a disputed plot of land in the area.

Three of the deceased identified as Haider, Kashif and Wahid Gul belonged to one group, while Asghar and Ameer Bahader were from the other.

The injured was identified as Irfan, who was rushed to a hospital in critical condition.

The Sarband police shifted the dead to the Khyber Medical College for autopsy.

In a separate development, a fire gutted a storeroom of an agriculture department building at the Civil Secretariat on Monday afternoon.

A Rescue 1122 spokesperson said fire started inside a storeroom located at the second floor of the building near the gate number 4 of the Civil Secretariat, apparently due to short-circuit.

He said the store housed files, stationary and other items. He said it took firefighters about an hour to put out the blaze.

Minister for agriculture Muhibullah Khan supervised the efforts to douse the flame, according to a statement.

Published in Dawn, June 29th, 2021