Daily Times

Peshawar: Gunmen on Saturday shot dead a local leader of the Awami National Party (ANP) in an attack in Gul Bahar area of the provincial capital.

According to initial details, senior ANP Ghulam Ahmed reached the hospital.

Unidentified assailants riding a motorcycle opened fire on the vehicle of Sartaj Khan, the Peshawar district president of ANP, in the residential Gulbahar area, police officials said.

The attack left him critically injured and he was rushed to the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH). Sources at the medical facility said Khan was brought there in a critical condition but could not survive.

An LRH spokesperson, Mohammad Asim, said the ANP leader had received bullet wounds on his face and chest.

Khan was a member of the district council from Peshawar. He was elected from Akhunabad area of the provincial capital.

The party’s parliamentary leader Sardar Hussain Babak condemned the incident. He decried that the government had failed to provide protection to its citizens while mourning the loss of the slain leader.

“We are being targeted again and again,” he said, adding that Khan was a long-time member of the party and losing him is a setback for ANP.

Senior Superintendent of Police Zahoor Babar Afridi told the media that two motorcyclists had targeted Khan and that further investigation was underway.

“It could be a target killing,” the SSP said.

Khan earlier served as the general secretary of the ANP’s city district and had been elected as the president for Peshawar in the recent intra-party elections.

Hospital administration said the body has been handed over the family of  Sartaj Khan.

Police are yet to make a statement.