Tribesmen demand arrest of journalist’s killers

LANDIKOTAL: Various tribes collectively staged a sit-in and protest march in Khyber Sultankhel area here on Saturday and demanded immediate arrest of the killers of journalist Khalil Jibran, while also calling for a judicial inquiry into the case.

Hundreds of local residents, including tribal elders, elected representatives and civil society activists, participated in the sit-in and the march. Speakers including Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazl) leader and religious scholar Mufti Tehseenullah Shinwari, Malik Abdur Razaq Zakhakhel, Shakir Afridi, Pakistan People’s Party leaders Shah Rehman and Hazrat Wali Afridi, Landikotal Mayor Shah Khalild Shinwari, Jamaat-e-Islami Landikotal amir Murad Hussain Afridi, Awami National Party Landikotal president Shah Hussain Shinwari and others said that the government should take proper steps to ensure security of citizens. They said Khalil Jibran was the third local resident killed in the same locality in recent months.

They said that target killing was again on the peak in Landikotal while journalists were receiving threats from militants. They constituted a grand jirga and nominated 15 elders from each tribe to form a committee and chalk out a course of action for security.

The protesters later mar­ch­ed from Takia ground to Ayub Killay for three kilometers, while holding placards and banners inscribed with slogans.

Meanwhile, the Advisor to Chief Minister on Information Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif, District Police Officer Salim Abbas Kulachi, leaders of various political parties and civil society activists visited Khalil Jibran Afridi’s residence and condoled his death. Barrister Saif pledged to take up the issue with the chief minister to probe the incident thoroughly.