Six barbers killed in Taliban’s former stronghold in Pakistan

Islamabad, Jan. 2, (dpa/GNA) – At least six men identified as barbers were shot dead and their bodies were dumped in a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban group near the country’s border with Afghanistan, police and locals said on Tuesday.

The men, working as barbers at local salons in the district of North Waziristan, were killed before dawn on Tuesday, police official Mohamed Nadeem said.

The region on the Afghan border once served as headquarters for Islamist militants from Afghanistan, Central Asia and China linked with al-Qaeda. The area has seen a surge in violence in recent years.

No one claimed responsibility for the killings, but the Pakistani Taliban, a group different from their Afghan counterparts, has been murdering barbers previously for shaving beards.

The incident comes days after parts of a school for girls was burnt down in the same region, something that the Taliban has also been doing frequently.

Multiple reports by think tanks working on security issues revealed on Monday that violent attacks had surged by 70% in Pakistan in 2023 – reaching the highest level in more than half a decade.

GNA