Gunmen kill 9 in Pakistan’s Peshawar

Militants have killed nine men in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar after storming a house of anti-Taliban activists, police say.

The attack took place in the Mashukhel neighborhood of Peshawar, close to the lawless Khyber tribal district bordering Afghanistan, early Wednesday.

“At least nine men were shot dead by militants who stormed into a house around 4.30 am firing with automatic weapons and exploding hand grenades,” AFP quoted senior police official Fazal-e-Wahid as saying.

Wahid went on to say that the militants separated adult males of the family, shot them and later fled.

The attack came a day after 15 people were killed and 22 others wounded by a triple grenade attack on Shama Cinema in Peshawar.

Peshawar and several other northwestern towns have experienced a fresh spate of violence and militancy over the past few months. Militant attacks and bomb explosions have killed hundreds of people across the volatile region over the past few months.

The latest attacks come as the Islamabad government initiated the talks last week in an attempt to end endemic violence in the country.

Pakistan has been gripped by deadly violence since 2001, after Islamabad joined the so-called US war on terror. According to Pakistani authorities, nearly 50,000 people have lost their lives in the conflict.

Thousands more have been displaced by the wave of violence and militancy sweeping across the country.