LAKKI MARWAT: Terrorists shot dead a Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl leader in Dragay area of Karak district on Sunday.

According to party sources, the deceased leader, Syed Wali had abandoned his hometown due to security threats and had settled in Barghantu area of Bannu district.

They said that Wali had gone to his hometown in connection with an urgent work where unknown armed men took him to his abandoned house and killed him.

The deceased had also served as general secretary of JUI-F’s Wazir subdivision chapter.

Police officials in Bannu and Karak districts confirmed the killing of a JUI-F leader by terrorists and said that the Counter-Terrorism Department had launched an investigation into the incident.

Former provincial minister and JUI-F leader Sher Azam Wazir condemned the murder of Syed Wali and declared it as an irreparable loss for the party.

He asked the government to arrest the killers and take them to task.

Separately, a teenaged boy lost his life in an armed clash between rival groups in Lakki Marwat on Sunday.

Police identified the deceased as Mohammad Noman and said that he along with his brother, Mohammad Fayyaz and uncle, Mohammad Nisar Khan was at the MCA Chowk when an exchange of fire between armed groups occurred.

They said Noman was critically injured in the crossfire and died while being taken to Government City Hospital.

The body was handed over to relatives for burial after postmortem examination.

Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2025