Three killed and seven wounded as bandits fire at a bus in Kohistan

GILGIT: Three people including a woman were killed and seven others were injured when armed men opened fire at their bus at Mata Banda village in Kohistan district, said District Coordination Officer (DCO) Hussain Ahmed on Sunday.

“A junior commissioned officer of the Pakistan army, conductor of the bus and a woman traveller were killed when unidentified armed men opened fire at their bus late Saturday night,” the DCO said.

He said the bus was travelling towards Skardu when four to five masked gunmen intercepted the bus at about 2:00am, some 350 kilometres southwest of Gilgit.

The DCO said that bodies were sent to their native villages while the injured were admitted to the hospital where two were stated to be in serious condition.

Mr Ahmed said that a case had been registered against unidentified assailants and investigations were underway but no arrests have been made so far. Security has been tightened on the Karakorum Highway, he said.

Following the terrorist attack on the bus, scores of foreign tourists and mountaineers had called off their visit to Northern areas via the Karakorum Highway to attend the K-2 Golden Jubilee celebrations at Skardu. The terror act had led over four hundred passengers from Gilgit, Skardu, Khiplo, Astore, Hunza, Ghazar, Rawalpindi and Islamabad to postpone their journey on the Karakorum Highway. The Tourism Department in Gilgit had termed the terrorist attack a conspiracy to foil the K-2 Golden Jubilee celebrations, inflicting a blow to the tourism industry. online

Home | National