Elder injured in attack, ‘hired assassin’ killed

GHALLANAI: A tribal elder sustained critical injuries in an attempt on his life while an attacker was killed in a subsequent exchange of fire with the Khassadar and Levies Force personnel in Ambar tehsil of Mohmand Agency, official sources said.

They said the accomplice of the attacker was also arrested after a brief exchange of fire between the administration and local tribesmen. The sources said that two assailants riding a bike opened fire on Malik Muhammad Khan, a tribal elder, in Drawo bazaar in Ambar, leaving him seriously injured. 

They said the tribal elder was shifted to the nearby hospital where the doctors referred him to a hospital in Peshawar due to his precarious condition. The sources said that the personnel of Khassadar, Levies as well as local tribesmen chased the attackers. They said that an assailant was killed while his accomplice was arrested in an injured condition after a brief exchange of fire. They said the injured attacker was taken to the Agency Headquarters Hospital in Ghallanai, the administrative headquarters of Mohmand Agency.

Talking to reporters, Assistant Political Agent Naveed Akbar Khan said that the attacker revealed in the preliminary investigation that they were hired assassins. He said the accused said that a tribesman paid them Rs600, 000 to kill Muhammad Khan. The official said that one accused belonged to Charsadda district.