Ashrafuddin Pirzada
LANDIKOTAL
Unknown gunmen shot dead a Frontier Corps(FC) sepoy in the Sultankhel Khyber area of Landikotal tehsil, police sources said Wednesday.
A police officer told this correspondent that FC soldier identified as Jawad Khan Afridi, son of Afsar Khan was serving in the Frontier Corps in Waziristan. He said the slain soldier was on leave when unknown gunmen traced him and opened indiscriminate firing on him at front of his home in Zazikhel village in Landikotal around 6:45 pm on Tuesday evening. The assailants had fled from the seen after committing the crime.
The police official added that the martyred FC soldier had received several gunshots on his body and died on the spot. His body was later taken to hospital for autopsy.
The brazen attack sent shockwaves across the locality, with residents describing the incident as a tragic reminder of the fragile security situation in Landikotal. Local elders and villagers gathered in mourning, while police and security forced jointly launched a search operation to trace the attackers.
Observers note that such targeted killings have been on the rise in Landikotal and other parts of Khyber district in recent months, raising fears of the militant network’s growing presence.
The resurgence of violence has created a climate of fear, with many residents worried about the return of the dark days of militancy.
It may be added here that it was the fourth target killing incident in the same locality of Sultankhel in the past months where a police,shopkeeper, Landikotal press club former president Khalil Jibran Afridi and FC Jawan Jawad Khan Afridi were killed while terrorists involved yet could not brought to the justice.
