PESHAWAR - At least four people including two cops and a retired intelligence officer were killed in terrorism-related incidents in different areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Wednesday.
In the first incident, unidentified people killed two policemen near the agriculture workshop on the Dera-Bannu Road. Police said the cops identified as Muhammad Imran and Muhammad Faisal were on way for security duty at the Horse and Cattle Show when the gunmen opened fire at them near the agriculture workshop.
Muhammad Imran died on the spot while Muhammad Faisal sustained critical injuries and was taken to Civil Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.
Police said the attackers were on motorcycles.
In a separate incident, gunmen on a motorcycle shot dead a retired intelligence official in Peshawar, said senior police official Kashif Zulfiqar.
Abdul Latif retired from the intelligence service some 18 months ago. He was targeted near his house late Tuesday as he was going to mosque for night prayers.
According to a private TV channel, the deceased was a former regional director of Pakistan’s premier intelligence agency.
Abdul Latif, who was also a professor at Qurtaba University, was in Phase 7, Hayatabad to meet his relatives when assailants on a motorcycle shot him dead, police said.
Tatara SHO Abid Afridi said Latif, 61, had retired as a regional director from the ISI three years ago. During his career, Latif also served on key positions, including as the first secretary in Pakistan’s embassy in Afghanistan in the 90s, he added.
“He was a resident of Tehkal but was on a visit to Hayatabad to meet his relatives when unknown attackers riding a motorcycle opened fire at him just outside the house, killing him on the spot,” SHO Afridi said.
In another incident, a shopkeeper was also shot dead by gunmen on motorcycles in Shabqadar area on Tuesday, local police said.
They said they suspected the man was targeted after declaring himself a ‘prophet’, which Muslims consider an un-Islamic act.
No one has claimed responsibility for the killings.
Meanwhile, the law-enforcement agencies (LEAs) personnel arrested 32 suspects including Afghan nationals and proclaimed offenders during search operation in Peshawar on the occasion of Pakistan Day on Wednesday.
The police alongwith other security forces personnel conducted joint operation against the outlaws in Faqirabad and surrounding areas of the provincial capital Peshawar.
Ladies police and sniffer dogs also took part in the operation during which more than 100 houses were searched, 32 suspects including 12 Afghan nationals and three POs involved in murder and attempt murders were apprehended with weapons.
The nabbed suspects were being interrogated after registering cases against them at respective police stations.
TWO COPS DIE IN ROAD MISHAP
In the second incident, two cops lost their lives in a road accident near Mandaran Kalan the same day. Police said the cops were on their way homes after performing security duty at the cattle show when a fast moving passenger bus hit their motorbike.
The two cops Pervez and Ihsanullah died on the spot while another identified as Muhammad Shoaib sustained injuries. The injured was taken to a hospital. Police lodged FIRs in both the incidents and started further investigation. Pakistan is battling a homegrown insurgency, with groups such as the Pakistani Taliban routinely carrying out attacks as part of their struggle to overthrow the government.