Surge in militancy in region bordering Afghanistan is now one of greatest security threats facing Islamabad
T
ariq Ahmed never lets his pistol out of his sight these days. Sitting cross-legged on a woven charpai, his face concealed with a scarf, the 26-year-old looks nervously left and right, shifting his gun in and out of his waistband.
It was here, just a few months ago in this neighbourhood bordering Pakistan’s north-western border city of Peshawar that his uncle Shehan Shah, 36, was shot dead at point blank range by the Taliban.
Like Ahmed, his uncle was also in the police, a higher-ranking constable dedicated to his job, which supported his family of seven children. But as Shah stepped out one early Saturday morning in June, to make his way on foot to Hashtnagri police station, he was followed by masked men on a motorbike. As one drew out an AK-47 rifle, Shah spotted him and tried to wrestle it away but the accomplice raised a pistol and riddled Shah with bullets.
