Four women killed in attack on NGO’s vehicle in North Waziristan

MIRANSHAH: Four women were killed and a driver sustained injuries when unidentified gunmen opened fire on the vehicle of a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) in Ipi village in Mir Ali tehsil of North Waziristan tribal district on Monday.

District Police Officer (DPO) Shafiullah Khan Gandapur said that the gunmen attacked the vehicle of the NGO, Sabawoon, in Ipi village in Mir Ali tehsil. He said that five women working for the NGO as handicraft trainers, were driving in a vehicle in Ipi village when they came under attack. The official added that four women identified as Naheed Bibi, Irshad Bibi, Ayesha Bibi and Javeria Bibi were killed in the attack, while Maryam Bibi miraculously escaped unhurt. He said that she managed to flee and entered a house in Ipi village to save her life. The DPO said that driver of the vehicle, Abdul Khaliq, was injured in the attack.

The bodies and injured were shifted to the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital in Mir Ali for postmortem and medical treatment. Soon after the incident, a search and strike operation was launched in the area for the arrest of terrorists involved in the crime. There was no report of any arrests yet. No group or individual has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Meanwhile, scores of armed persons killed a man and kidnapped eight people, including government officials, from Tadi area in Shewa tehsil in North Waziristan, official and local sources said on Monday.

The sources said that unidentified armed men had placed roadblocks on the road in a bid to stop the vehicles. They forced the passengers to disembark from the vehicles. It was learnt that a man was killed when he resisted the bid. The gunmen managed to forcibly take away eight people after forcing them to disembark from various vehicles in Tadi area in Shewa tehsil.

Superintendent of Police (SP) Investigations Aqil Hussain said that the police and the security forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation to locate the kidnapped people. Deputy Commissioner Shahid Ali Khan said that the kidnappers had released one hostage, while the search was taking place to recover the rest of the people. It was learnt that the kidnapped people included a government official, a lawyer, an engineer and an official of the Health Department.