Daily Times

Days after the killing of five persons, including leader of the peace committee in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast, unidentified gunmen shot barged into a house, leaving another member of the committee dead in South Waziristan Agency (SWA) last night, additional political agent (APA) said.

APA Ashfaq Khan told Daily Times: “Yes, unfortunately, Ali Muhammad has been killed inside his home last night.”

Last Thursday, five people, including Wali Jan Mehsud, leader of the peace committee, were killed and two others wounded in an IED blast in Sarwekai, a hamlet in the South Waziristan.

In the adjacent North Waziristan, six people were killed and eight others, including three security personnel, injured in an explosion triggered by an IED in Mir Ali area on Tuesday.

The APA said the tragic incident took place in Daggar village of Chagmalai region with the gunmen fled the scene after committing the crime.

As usual, a heavy contingent of security personnel reached the site soon after the incident, cordoned off the area and launched a search operation.

On repatriation of temporary displaced persons (TDPs), the APA had said that South Waziristan Agency had now been opened except of Shaktoi area, where the security forces had launched operation some days back.

According to a 2012 report by FATA Research Center (FRC), a think-tank working on FATA region, the first military operation was launched in 2009, leaving an estimated two million people displaced from South Waziristan. According to local media, the proscribed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed credit for the killing of Ali Muhammad, with the spokesman of the insurgent’s group warned they would continue to target members of the peace committee.

Published in Daily Times, December 7^th 2017.