Shia passenger coach attacked in Kurram

Daily Times

Several passengers, including three women and some children, were injured on Sunday when unidentified terrorists ambushed their coach on Tal-Parachinar Road near Urwala Frontier Corps (FC) Fort in Lower Kurram. The van carrying Shia passengers was on its way from Parachinar to Peshawar when the terrorists attacked it with automatic weapons. The incident sparked panic among the locals, who said the unabated acts of terrorism had raised serious questions about the efficiency of the FC and other security agencies. Toori and Bangash tribes summoned an emergency meeting after the incident, declaring it an attempt of genocide against the tribes. The elders of the tribes declared that the attack was part of a series of such incidents being carried out in the presence of FC troops, who merely stood as silent spectators. People of Lower Kurram had been left unprotected, they said. They expressed disappointment that the checkposts the government had promised to establish at the Tal Road in Lower Kurram were instead being established in less-threatened areas of Upper Kurram. The elders urged the government to deploy troops in Lower Kurram, saying terrorists had been carrying out their criminal activities in the area because of government’s failure to ensure proper security arrangements. They said if the government faced a shortage of troops, it could re-locate those in Bahrain area.

Hazara man among 3 killed in Balochistan

A Hazara man was among three people killed in separate incidents of shooting in Quetta, Mastung and Hub areas of Balochistan on Sunday. In the first incident, unidentified armed men gunned down a man in Dasht area of Mastung. According to levies, the man identified as Muhammad Ali was sitting at his tyre shop when the armed men, riding a motorcycle, opened fire on him. Resultantly, he received multiple bullet wounds and died on the spot. Levies officials rushed to the spot and cordoned off the area. A levies official said the man belonged to the Hazara community and that it was a sectarian killing. The Hazara Democratic Party has strongly condemned the killing of Muhammad Ali, saying that the government had failed to provide security to Hazaras. Separately, a man was killed in Hub, an industrial township of Balochistan. According to sources, unidentified armed men shot dead Kuda Baksh in Goth Haji Murad area of Hub. Police rushed to the spot and body was taken to a nearby hospital. A man was also gunned down in the Sariab Road area of the provincial capital. Police said gunmen, riding a motorbike, opened fire on the man near Faizabad area while he was on his way home. He died on the spot. The body was moved to the civil hospital. The attackers managed to escape.