Bannu tribal jirga attack leaves one dead, three other injured

BANNU: A tribal jirga in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bannu district came under attack when armed assailants opened fire, killing at least one individual and injuring three people on Saturday, according to police.

“The Sardi Khel community had organised a jirga in the Mandi Khel area, which was attacked by militants who attempted to take away the jirga leader, Malak Eid Nawaz Sardi Khel, resulting in a clash with the jirga participants.” Bannu police spokesperson Kashif Nawaz said while talking to the media.

He added that the armed men opened fire at the people participating in the Jirga, leaving one dead and other injured.

The injured were taken to the hospital for treatment.  A police party had gone to the crime scene and searched for the terrorists while making efforts to maintain peace in the area.

Earlier, at least three terrorists linked to the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) were killed during a late-night operation in Lakki Marwat district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) on Saturday said that an intelligence-based operation was carried out in Sarai Naurang, near Bhutani Neh area, shortly after 1 am against terrorists.

The militants belonged to the TTP’s Tipu Gul group, were wanted for multiple attacks on law enforcement personnel, including the killing of Waheedullah of the CTD, Traffic Constable Anwar Sher, and Constable Idrees.

The CTD statement added that the suspected militants were identified as Waseemullah alias Umar Khattab, Qudratullah alias Abu Bakr, and Hijratullah alias Hijrat.

Law enforcers also recovered four hand grenades, Kalashnikov rifles, ammunition, and two mobile phones after the operation.