A. Majeed—AFP
Extremists separated male members of family before opening fire on them.
Militants stormed a house of anti-Taliban activists and shot dead nine men in Peshawar early Wednesday, police said, as government and Taliban negotiators met for a second round of peace talks.
The attack by around two-dozen fighters took place in the Mashukhel neighborhood of Peshawar. Taliban militants and other Islamist groups have been targeting locals who support the security forces or formed peace committees and vigilante groups against them.
“At least nine men were shot dead by militants who stormed into a house around 4:30 a.m. firing with automatic weapons and exploding hand grenades,” said senior police official Fazal-e-Wahid.
The attack came a day after 13 people were killed by a triple grenade attack on a Peshawar cinema, which is known for showing pornography. Earlier in the month, a separate cinema in the city was also hit by grenades, killing four and wounding 31.
Wahid said the militant group involved in Wednesday’s attack separated adult males of the family, shot them and later fled. A man of the same family who served in the community police was killed in an armed attack some 18 months ago, Wahid added.
Najib-ur-Rehman, another senior police official, confirmed the incident and said that the assailants came from Khyber and had targeted the family because of their affiliations with a local peace committee. No specific group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack.
Khyber straddles the NATO supply line into Afghanistan, used by U.S.-led troops to evacuate military equipment as they withdraw by the end of this year. Thousands fled fighting in Khyber district in the early months of last year, according to aid groups, though by June the Army said it had taken control of all the key strategic heights.