Followers of Mufti Munir Shakir and Pir Saifur Rehman were involved in a gunfight in the Sur Dhand area of Bara in Khyber Agency on Monday, in which at least five people were killed and 25 injured. Sources told Daily Times that the gunfight was still underway till the filing of this report. Reports from Bara suggest that the group of MuftiÂ’s supporters asked Badshah Jee, an Afghan refugee and follower of the Pir, to vacate his house at Sur Dhand and hand over weapons to them. Badshah Jee, however, did not comply and the Mufti Group moved to occupy his house by force. Both the groups used heavy weapons against each other, which led to considerable bloodshed on both sides. Those killed have been identified as Nama Jan, Gul wali, Shango, Rahim and Feroz Khan.
Meanwhile, a press note released from the GovernorÂ’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) Secretariat said that the situation in Bara was normal on Monday after an armed clash between two rival religious groups that left four-five people injured. The clash occurred when followers of Mufti Munir Shakir tried to set BadshahÂ’s house in Malik Din Khel on fire. The owner of the house, in retaliation, opened fire on the attackers, who were headed by Mangal Bagh. The political administration exercised maximum restraint, but finally ordered security personnel to open artillery fire to bring the situation under control, the release said. |