The leader of a peace committee and two of his companions were shot dead by terrorists in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Lakki Marwat district on Sunday, according to police officials.

The incident reflects the escalating militant presence in Lakki Marwat, where attacks have become more frequent in recent months despite ongoing efforts by local peace committees to maintain order and resist terrorist influence.

Shahid Khan, a spokesperson for Lakki Marwat police, told Dawn.com that the head of the Shahab Khel peace committee was heading to Qabol Khel when he was attacked in the Kara Wanda area.

“The peace committee chief Ghulam Dastagir alias Fauji and his friends Saleem Khan and Salahuddin were killed,” Shahid told Dawn.com. “A search operation was launched in the area after the incident.”

Peace committee officials in KP have been targeted in the past by terrorists. In April, there were two incidents targeting peace committees, one of which was in Lakki Marwat.

On April 29, a fierce gun battle was reported between members of a local peace committee and suspects — who allegedly killed an elderly man and wounded his relatives — in the district’s Begukhel area.

Earlier in April, a blast at a peace committee office in the South Waziristan district on Monday killed at least seven people, police and health officials said.

Wana City police Station House Officer (SHO) Usman Nazir told Dawn.com that seven people were killed and 16 others were also injured in the blast, which took place around 11am on April 26.

“Five of the injured were in critical condition,” he said. “The peace committee office was the target, as there was a meeting going on there at the time of the explosion.”

The SHO added that peace committee member Saifur Rehman was injured in the attack, “but his condition was not critical”.