Police clashes with protestors in NW Pakistan

Protesters and police clashed in north western city of Peshawar on Thursday as the officials attempted to disperse the crowd staging sit-in against the ongoing operation in the Khyber tribal area, media reports said.

The police fired shells at the protesters and resorted to aerial firing. The protesters, responding in kind, pelted them with stones.

Police, earlier today, fired tear gas shells to disperse coffin-carrying protesters who refused to bury 14 people allegedly killed in a raid by security forces, officials said.

The pre-dawn operation was launched about 13 hours after around 300 people staged a sit-in outside the governor’s house in Peshawar along with bodies of those killed in the raid on Tuesday night.

Earlier eighteen bullet-riddled bodies were recovered from the Alamgudar area of Bara Tehsil in Khyber Agency.

The heirs described the deceased as tribesmen who were allegedly shot at their homes during an operation which was conducted in the area.

The protesters blamed security forces and refused to bury the bodies until they get justice.

The relatives alleged that the slain men included seven of a family.

The government ordered a judicial enquiry into the incident and decided to pay 400,000 rupees each to the families of the deceased.