NAUSHAHRO FEROZE, Feb 15: Five people were killed in an armed attack on the National Highway in Moro on Wednesday.

Nizamuddin, Abdullah and Faiz Mohammad, all by caste Kalhoro, left Moro for their village in the Mehar area of Dadu district in a car driven by Mohram Khan Ujjan. When they reached the city bypass, one of the three people waiting for them opened fire at the car with a Kalashnikov, killing its four occupants on the spot.

Some bullets hit a stationary van, injuring passengers Hidayat Khatoon Gambhir, Abdul Nabi and Ms Hurmat. They were taken to hospital but Hidayat Khatoon died before reaching there.

SSP Javed Soonharo Jiskani told journalists linked the attack to an enmity between two groups of people of the Mehar area belonging to Lashari and Kalhoro communities which has claimed several lives over the past 15 years.

The SSP said that police with the help of villagers followed the accused and engaged them in an encounter after which one of them was injured and arrested but the two others fled.

He said that the arrested accused was identified as Amir Bux Lashari, a police constable.

The SSP said that relatives of slain people were busy in funeral arrangements and added that an FIR would be registered when they approached the police.