Gunmen on motorcycles shoot dead four in turbulent Pakistani province

Peshawar:  Gunmen on motorcyles have shot dead two policemen and a former intelligence official in a northwestern Pakistani province bearing the brunt of a decade-long war against terrorism, police said Wednesday.

Pakistan is battling a homegrown Islamist insurgency, with groups such as the Pakistani Taliban routinely carrying out attacks as part of their struggle to overthrow the government.

The policemen were shot dead Wednesday on a roadside in the town of Dera Ismail Khan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, senior police official Abdul Ghafoor Afridi told AFP.

In a separate incident, gunmen on a motorcycle shot dead a retired intelligence official in the provincial capital Peshawar, said senior police official Kashif Zulfiqar.

Abdul Latif retired from the intelligence service some 18 months ago. He was targeted near his house late Tuesday as he was going to mosque for night prayers.

A shopkeeper was also shot dead by gunmen on motorcycles in the northwestern town of Shabqadar on Tuesday, local police said.

They said they suspected the man was targeted after declaring himself a prophet, which Muslims consider an un-Islamic act. 

No one has claimed responsibility for the killings.