Two gunmen on a motorcycle shot dead an intelligence officer in northwest Pakistan on Monday, police said, in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group.
Two gunmen on a motorcycle shot dead an intelligence officer in northwest Pakistan on Monday, police said, in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group.
Akbar Ali, an intelligence sub-inspector, was on his way to work and waiting at a bus stop near his home in Charsadda district when the gunmen opened fire, said Suhail Khalid, district police chief.
“Akbar Ali was hit by four bullets from the front and was killed on the spot,” he said, adding that the attackers used a 9-mm pistol and fled the scene.
The attack was later claimed by the Islamic State group in a short statement posted on Amaq, its affiliated news agency.
“Islamic State fighters have killed a Pakistan intelligence agent in the Sardaryab region... Of Pakistan,” it said, referring to the local area.
Pakistan’s military last month admitted for the first time that the Islamic State group had a presence in the country but said it had detained hundreds of its militants and prevented them from carrying out major attacks.
ISIS which has struggled for traction in Pakistan in the face of competition from well-established groups gained its first toehold in January 2015 when six Pakistani Taliban leaders switched their allegiance from Al-Qaeda.
