LAKKI MARWAT: Two people, including a police official, were killed and as many were injured when armed men opened fire on their rivals at a reconciliatory meeting here on Friday.

Police said that Saifullah and Pir Mohammad groups had a monetary dispute and a reconciliatory meeting had been convened by the mediators at Gandi Chowk in Serai Naurang town to patch up the dispute.

As the mediators left the venue after the meeting, elders from both the groups exchanged harsh words, officials said, while quoting Saifullah, who told them that members of his rival group brought weapons from their vehicles and opened fire at them.

He said that as a result of firing, his son, Khitabur Rehman died instantly, while his other son, Iqbal Khan and friends, Rizwanullah and Feroz, were seriously wounded.

After the shooting, the attackers escaped the scene in their vehicles, he added.

Police said Rizwanullah, a police official posted in Bannu, was taken to the Khalifa Gul Nawaz Hospital, Bannu, where he was pronounced dead.

They said that other injured persons were shifted to a local hospital, from where Feroz was referred to a hospital in Peshawar.

The police said that the deceased belonged to Speenwam area of North Waziristan district.

They said that investigation was started into the incident after registration of a case against the assailants.

Meanwhile, two boys were killed over a family dispute in Karak district on Friday.

The police said that the double murder occurred near Grob Bridge on the Peshawar-Karachi Highway in the limits of Yaqoob Khan Shaheed police station.

They said that armed motorcyclists opened fire on Nadir Khan, 22, and Khurram Shezad, 16, when they were going to their Girvi Banda village on a motorcycle. Both of them died on the spot, while the attackers escaped the scene.

The police said that the bodies were moved to a hospital in Takht Nusrati town to complete medico-legal formalities.

They said that they registered a case against the killers under sections 302 (premeditated murder), 324 (attempted murder) and 34 (common intention) of Pakistan Penal Code and initiated an investigation.

Published in Dawn, January 11th, 2025