A close aide of veteran warlord and Hizb-e-Islami chief Gulbadin Hikmatyar was shot dead on the outskirts of Peshawar on Tuesday. Haji Muhammad Farid alias Naqibullah, 60, was targeted by men riding on motorcycles in the Pishtakhara area, police told source.
Farid was Hikmatyar’s former secretary and also his father-in-law. He was an important figure in Afghanistan’s Hizb-e-Islami party and had no enemies, according to his sons.
A week ago, he went to Afghanistan and returned to Peshawar where he was currently residing. Farid’s killing is the latest in a string of attacks on important Afghan clerics and pro Emarit-e-Islami figures in the city.
The two groups are engaged in a bloody conflict with each other for the control of Afghanistan. The Pishtikhara police have registered a case against unidentified assailants and an investigation is underway.
A resident of Peshawar told source Farid lived in Najeeb Colony, Tajabad. He added that Farid was attacked outside a mosque when he was leave after offering his morning prayers.
The caretaker of the Pir Siraj seminary was killed in a similar attack near Academy Town a few months ago.
Waliullah, the spokesperson for the Hizb-e-Islami in Pakistan, told source that Farid was an important member of their party and had held several important posts in the past. “He was a Kharoti by clan and a close relative of party head Gulbadin Hikmatyar,” he added.
