Police constable shot dead in North Waziristan bazaar

A police constable was shot dead at Eidak Bazaar in Mirali tehsil of North Waziristan district on Tuesday afternoon, police said, in an attack that the department says it is investigating.

The constable, identified as Asmatullah, was fired on by unidentified assailants at about 4pm while he was in the bazaar and died at the scene, according to Dawn. The News International also reported the killing, describing him as a policeman martyred in North Waziristan.

A contingent of police reached the bazaar after being informed of the shooting, examined the crime scene and opened an investigation to establish the circumstances of the attack and to identify those responsible, police said. The body was taken to a hospital.

Neither outlet reported a claim of responsibility, and no arrest was announced.

North Waziristan is one of the districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that borders Afghanistan, and its police and security personnel have been repeatedly targeted in recent years. Tuesday's killing is the latest in a series of attacks on individual policemen in the district and in neighbouring parts of the province.

Details of the investigation, including whether any suspects have been identified, were not immediately available. Police did not say what the constable was doing in the bazaar at the time of the attack, and no further information about the assailants was released.

Officials have not issued a statement on the killing beyond the police account carried by the two newspapers.