Pakistan: Senior leader of banned Sunni extremist group killed
A senior leader of a banned Sunni extremist group was killed along with his bodyguard by unidentified men yesterday in Pakistan. Ismail Derwish and his bodyguard were traveling in a Khyber car when attackers opened fire at them in Peshawar's Chairman Daftar area. Derwish was a well-known Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan leader, now known as Ahle-Sunnat-Wal-Jamat (ASWJ) after the outfit was banned by the Musharraf government.
Bodyguard killed on spot, Derwish died in hospital
Derwish's bodyguard was killed on the spot while the Sunni leader succumbed to his injuries later at Lady Reading Hospital, cops said. It was clearly a target killing incident, they added. Derwish, the former regional head of an anti-Shiite party Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, was also reportedly contesting by-elections from PK-78 as the ASWJ candidate. He had also served as the party's provincial chief multiple times.
