ISLAMABAD: Unidentified gunmen attacked members of the Sikh community in the northwestern city of Peshawar on Wednesday killing one on the spot while injuring two others. Police officials said that the attack occurred at a busy marketplace in Hashtnagari area of Peshawar when members of the Sikh community had just opened their respective cosmetic shops.

The deceased was identified as Jagmohan Singh while the injured, Manmit Singh and Param Singh, were said to be in critical condition in the city’s Lady Reading hospital. Angry members of the Sikh community blocked the main Grand Trunk Road linking Peshawar with the capital city of Islamabad with protesters shouting slogans against the government and demanding justice.

They also burnt tyres before marching towards the chief minister’s office while carrying the dead body. Following assurances by CM Pervez Khattak during a meeting with 14-member delegation of Sikhs that foolproof security will be provided to the minority community, the protesters ended their protest. At least 520 Sikh families live in Peshawar with 380 of them living in a locality known as Mohallah Jogan Shah.

Several of them migrated from the tribal regions when Pakistani Taliban established their control there. In the past decade, Pakistan has increasingly become an unsafe place for minorities. In recent years, members of Christian, Sikh, Hindu and Ahamadiyya communities were brutally targeted across the country.