Ex-Anti-Taliban peace committee chief killed along with friend in Tank

Ex-Anti-Taliban peace committee chief killed along with friend in Tank
---- 3 soldiers injured in roadside bombing

By Saleem Mehsud

TANK, Oct 26: Former chief of anti-Taliban Tank Peace Committee, Shahabuddin Burki was gunned down along with his friend late Tuesday night in congested Civil Line Muhallah of the city, while three security personnel were injured in a roadside bombing in the city in a separate incident on Wednesday.

Police said that Shahabuddin Burki, loyal to slain commander Qari Zainuddin anti-Taliban group, was sleeping with his friend in Civil Line Muhallah of Tank city along with his friend identified as Asmatullah Mehsud s/o Ghulam Rasool when they both were shot dead by their friend with a pistol. The culprit managed to flee the scene after committing the dual murder.

Police immediately imposed curfew in the city and extra contingents of police were deployed on all the entry and exit points of the city.

Ghulam Rasool, father of the deceased Asmatullah, told INP that Shahabuddin came to his home for stay along with a friend whose identity was not known to him. During mid-night the third friend opened indiscriminate fire at both the deceased when they were sleeping and managed his escape along with the pistol, Ghulam Rasool said. He said that family members immediately rushed to the guest room where they found both the deceased laying in a pool of blood. They were immediately rushed to a hospital where they were pronounced dead.

Similarly, two days ago, unknown gunmen opened indiscriminate fire at former elder of the Peace Committee Haji Ghulam Ayaz along with another man Adab Khan in Sheikh Uttar area adjacent to the Tank city.

It is pertinent to be mentioned here that Qari Zainuddin was killed in Dera Ismail Khan by a foot fighter loyal to the founder of Tehrek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) slain commander Baitullah Mehsud when his pro-government group was active against the TTP affiliated members in both Tank and DI Khan and also have killed their several members especially Qari Hussain, the master trainer of suicide bombers.

The killing of peace committee members sparked panic among the members of the committee among whom most were loyal to Qari Zainuddin group which was especially constituted by the government in 2009 to counter TTP foot fighters in Tank and DI Khan in order to establish peace.

In yet another incident in the same city, three security personnel were wounded when a remote-controlled roadside bomb detonated next to an army vehicle on the outskirts of the town, local military officials said.

Police and security forces cordoned off the entire area and launched a search operation. However, no arrests were made.