ANP leader, nephew shot dead in Peshawar

PESHAWAR: Unidentified armed men shot dead a leader of the Awami National Party (ANP) and his nephew in the jurisdiction of the Tehkal Police Station on Wednesday.

Ibrar Khalil, who was a losing candidate of the ANP for the provincial assembly constituency, PK-74 Peshawar, in the 2018 election, and his nephew Rashid were travelling in a car in the Subhanabad locality of Tehkal when armed motorcyclists opened fire at them. Both were killed on the spot. "Eight empties of a small machine-gun were recovered from the spot. We are investigating the incident from all angles," Capital City Police Officer Qazi Jamilur Rehman told The News.

Police officials said the cops were probing to find if the incident was target killing or there were some other motives. The ANP leaders condemned the assassinations and offered condolences to the bereaved family. They demanded arrest of the killers and awarding them exemplary punishment.

A number of ANP leaders and workers have come under attack by the terrorists in recent years. In July, ANP provincial assembly candidate Haroon Bashir Bilour and 21 other party workers and supporters were martyred in a suicide attack during an election meeting in Peshawar.

ANP Central General Secretary Mian Iffikhar Hussain has also received life threats during recent weeks. One report even said a suicide bomber trained in Afghanistan's Kunar province had been sent to Pakistan to attack Mian Iftikhar Hussain, who lost his only son, Mian Rashid Hussain, in a terrorist strike some years ago.