KOHAT/SWABI, Dec 26: A prominent member of Shia-Sunni Peace Jirga of Hangu was killed and his companion was seriously injured when armed motorcyclists opened firing on them in Kohat on Monday.

The deceased, Maulana Niazbar, also a member of Sunni Supreme Council in Hangu district, had come to Kohat to attend two separate jirgas. He was killed on the spot.

His companion, Maulana Zeenatullah, a resident of Jarma area in Kohat, was injured in the attack. He was shifted to Peshawar in serious condition.

Eyewitnesses said that unidentified motorcyclists opened firing on Maulana Niazbar when he came out of a house in Orakzai Chowk on the Indus Highway after meeting his business partner, Ibraheem.

His body was taken to Liaquat Memorial Hospital from where it was shifted to his native Kotki village in Hangu.

Police cordoned off the area and carried out search operations in Guddi Banda, Jarma and Khwasi Banda areas for the arrest of killers, who managed to escape from the scene in the densely populated area.

The chairman of Sunni Supreme Council and former MNA, Javed Ibraheem Paracha, condemned the killing of the religious leader and criticised the government for shelving the murder cases of their leaders. He said that government had completely failed in restoring peace in Hangu region.

In Swabi, unidentified militants blew up the main gas pipeline near a seminary in Shahmansoor area on Monday.

Officials said that bomb disposal squad found two home-made bombs at another place in the area after the incident and defused them.

The residents of the area said that the bombs exploded near the congested Shahmansoor area one after another at 3:30 am.

The windows and doors of the nearby seminary were broken, however, no casualty was reported. The Sui Northern Gas Pipelines (SNGPL) suspended supply of natural gas to the entire district after the incident.

The fire, erupted after the explosions, also caused suspension of electricity supply to the provincial metropolis after the high transmission line fell on the ground. However, officials of Peshawar Electric Supply Company said that they had restored the electricity supply.