Battagram | Pakistan

A teenage girl was gunned down allegedly by her uncle on Monday in a ‘honour’ killing case in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Battagram district. The incident comes a few days after the killing of a man and a woman in the Degari area of Quetta on the orders of a tribal jirga ahead of Eidul Azha for so-called ‘honour’. The police had subsequently arrested at least 14 suspects for their involvement in the incident. According to Battagram police Public Relations Officer Ghulam Nabi, “The uncle of the victim allegedly gunned down his niece in the name of honour.” A first information report (FIR) dated Aug 4, seen by Dawn.com, said that the incident occurred during the early hours of Monday. In the FIR, the suspect confessed that he had been a guest at his brother’s house for two days. “My brother went outside at night and told me to take care of the house,” the FIR quoted him as saying. He further said that he heard the sound of the gate of the house opening at around 2am, prompting him to wake up. “Using a flashlight, I sa...

A slaughtered donkey was recovered and the alleged perpetrators were arrested in the Kuzabanda area of Battagram district on Tuesday. According to District Food Controller (DFC) Shad Muhammad, Additional Assistant Commissioner and Food Inspector raided a location in Kuzabanda based on intelligence information. The raid resulted in the recovery of the slaughtered donkey and the arrest of two individuals, belonging to Hunza and Mansehra. The arrested people claimed they were supplying the meat to Chinese officials working on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project. “However, an investigation is necessary to determine the actual purpose of the meat,” the DFC emphasised. “Notably, the arrested individuals neither belong to the butcher community, nor do they have a shop,” he added. An investigation has been initiated and a letter sent to the food department. The DFC also highlighted that even if the arrested persons’ claim is correct, slaughtering a donkey in public is not allowed. “Instead, it should ...

An assailant opened fire at a school van injuring six people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Battagram district, police said on Tuesday. Battagram police spokesperson Gul Nabi told Dawn.com that the school van was coming from the Pirwahari area when it was attacked. “Five students and the van driver were injured in the incident,” he added. The injured were shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital Battagram, he continued, adding that one person, who was in critical condition, was referred to the Ayub Medical Complex Abbottabad. “A first information report [FIR] was lodged and efforts to arrest the suspect were underway,” Nabi added. According to Kuzabanda Station House Officer (SHO) Amjid Khan, the suspect’s motive behind the incident was “personal vendetta” against the van driver. “The shooter opened fire, recklessly endangering the lives of the children onboard,” he said. The president of the Private Education Network (PEN) Battagram chapter, Syed Raqib Shah, condemned the incident and characterised it as an “a...