The gunmen shot dead five people, including a policeman in suspected sectarian violence in Dera Ismail Khan Town on Monday, police said. The attackers sprayed bullets at a rickshaw on the outskirts of the town of Dera Ismail Khan, killing three passengers and the rickshaw driver, local police chief Ghaffar Qaiserani told AFP.
The fleeing gunmen hurled a hand grenade and later shot dead a policeman who tried to chase them, he said. "It appears to be a sectarian killing," he said, adding that the attackers left a motorcycle and a shawl at the crime scene and police were using sniffer dogs to search for them.
Three Shiite relatives of one of the victims of Monday's shooting were also shot dead on May 10 in Dera Ismail Khan. The latest killings sparked protests in several parts of the city, but the situation was under control, the police chief said.