Govt official shot dead in Peshawar

PESHAWAR: A young officer of the Civil Secretariat who until recently was serving as assistant political agent in South Waziristan was shot dead by unidentified attackers in apparent target killing in Yakatoot area in the provincial capital on Wednesday evening.

Nawab Safi, 34, an officer of the Provincial Management Service, was presently serving as section officer in the Establishment Department. “He was coming out of the mosque after Maghrib prayers when two motorcyclists opened fire on him,” Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Operations Peshawar, Abbas Majeed Marwat, told The News.

According to the locals, a nephew of the deceased was also around when the armed men attacked the officer. He, however, remained unharmed. A brother of Safi also arrived at the spot when the firing was on.

Locals told police that the attackers managed to escape while firing into the air. The police, however, said they have recovered two empties from the spot.The area is infamous for target killing of policemen, other officers, elders of political parties and Mohmand tribe for the last many months. Search operations are being carried out often in the area.

Police officials said a gang of target killers operating in the area has been busted recently. However, the situation is still out of control as the armed men are targeting people frequently.