SUKKUR: A large group of armed men belonging to the Thaheem community of Jacobabad district gunned down six internally displaced people (IDPs) on Monday in Chuttal Abad village, officials at the Dodapur police station of Garhi Khero and residents of the nearby villages said. Five-seven other people were wounded.

Reports reaching here from the village suggested that some families belonging to the Babbar Jamali sub-tribe were among hundreds of people who had moved into Jacobabad to escape drowning at the outset of the unprecedented rains and floods that hit Balochistan (and Sindh) in August and September last year.

Those who were attacked by the Thaheems on Monday had built their makeshift settlement on a piece of dry land, they believed to be owned by government, and had been living there since then.

There were conflicting reports about what caused the Thaheems to attack on them. One report suggested that they were pressing the Jamalis to move to some other place claiming that it was not a state-owned land but their (Thaheems’) property. Another report said that the Jamialis had recently started setting up makeshift toilets outside their camps in the settlement and the Thaheems raised objection arguing that the land being used for the toilets was their property.

A heated argument took place between the two sides on Sunday and the angry Thaheems turned away. However, on Monday morning, about 15 armed Thaheems hit the Jamalis’ settlement and opened an indiscriminate fire on their homes killing six people and wounding seven others. The attackers then fled the area.

Attackers had objected to toilets being set up at makeshift settlement

Officers and personnel from the Dodapur police station rushed to the village and took up positions to ward off a flare-up. The situation was now under control but tense, they said on Monday evening.

The police shifted the bodies to Garhi Khero hospital, where they were identified as Nasrullah and his son Naseer Ahmed, Sabal, Sahib Dino, Daim and Khamiso, and the wounded men as

Abdul Raheem, Zafrullah, Mohammad Sadiq, Mohammad Ashraf and Abdul Hafeez. All the victims belonged to the Babbar Jamali side.

The wounded victims were rushed to the same hospital, where doctors referred Abdul Rahim, Mohammed Ashraf and Mohammed Sadiq to the Chandka Medical College Hospital, Larkana, due to their serious condition.

Security beefed up

The already tense situation aggravated when a large number of Jamali tribesmen drove into the village after hearing news of the gruesome tragedy. A strong contingent of police from different station also rushed to the area fearing a retaliation and further violence. Some police units were riding armoured personnel carriers (APCs). The entire area was cordoned off and security was beefed up.

The police force was headed by DSPs of Garhi Khero and Dau Jahanpur.

Meanwhile, the police claimed to have arrested two of the suspected attackers, Faheem Thaheem and Rajan Dashti and seized weapons from them.

Speaking to the media, an elder of the Babbar Jamali sub-tribe said that the makeshift camps were set up by these survivors of rains and floods that had devastated Balochistan. He said the Thaheems had objected to the setting up of toilets on the land outside the camps. The dispute ended up in the armed attack on the families, he added.

Our Larkana correspondent M.B. Kalhoro adds: Jacobabad SSP Dr Sumair Noor Channa has sent his report on the incident to the inspector general of police and Larkana DIG. The report said that 10-15 armed men from the Thaheem clan attacked Babbar Jamali families on the issue of land (plot) resulting in the killing of six persons and injuries to three others (all belonging to the Babbar Jamali side).

The incident took place in village Chuttal Abad of Garhi Khero taluka, it said.

It added that a heavy police posse conducted raids in the area and arrested two suspects reportedly involved in the incident. Efforts were under way to pick up rest of the suspects involved in the crime, the report said. “The situation is under control now,” the SSP said.

At the Chandka hospital, Mohammed Baqar Babbar, the son of Sabal Babbar (who succumbed to his wounds during treatment at the hospital) told the media: “We had argued with some people from the Thaheem clan who had come to the makeshift settlement and were taking photographs of the disputed site. Later, on Monday morning, a group of armed Thaheems opened an indiscriminate fire on our houses in the village”.

He said six persons were gunned down and seven others were wounded by the attackers.

Published in Dawn, January 31st, 2023