LAHORE: The video of gunmen resorting to firing in broad daylight on rooftops of a private housing society of Johar Town is going rounds on social media.

The armed clash between the gunmen of Panu and Babar Khan groups panicked the local residents and the students of a nearby private university.

The gun play continued for more than two hours.

Local residents and students of the varsity filmed the scenes of the cross firing and later uploaded them on social media.The footage showed the gunmen taking cover of the walls on the roofs to hit their rivals and the sound of the gunfire could be heard clearly.

In a clip, five gunmen were seen challenging their armed opponents who were also taking positions at another rooftop and hurling life threats, amid gunshots.

Some footage showed the residents running on rooftops of their homes and a few others going downstairs when both sides exchanged massive fire.

The entire firing episode lasted for more than two hours. The local police reacted when the senior command of the Lahore police took notice of the incident.Later, the police teams raided the residences of the both groups and took into custody some suspects, besides recovering weapons from them.

The FIR was lodged against both groups who declared the incident a result of old enmity.

Published in Dawn, November 23rd, 2021