The attack took place in the Aranji area of Khuzdar’s Wadh tehsil, near the Quetta-Karachi highway, according to Aranji Station House Officer (SHO) Abdulfateh.

Mengal, a tribal elder and head of the Jhalawan Awami Panel, was not present at the camp at the time of the attack.

The SHO said armed men riding motorbikes arrived at the area and opened fire at a security checkpost of Mengal’s camp. According to the SHO, the attackers initially killed four security guards and kidnapped the policeman. They later killed the policeman and dumped his body before fleeing the area.

The deceased were identified as Abdul Hayee, Naimatullah, Yahya, Naseer Ahmed and Constable Noor Muhammad. Obaidullah, an employee of a nearby hospital, sustained bullet injuries in the attack, SHO Abdulfateh said.

Following the incident, law enforcement agencies reached the site and shifted the bodies and the injured man to the district hospital.

A search operation was subsequently launched in the area to trace the attackers, officials said. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

In July, at least 17 people, including police personnel, were killed and more than two dozen others were injured in a suicide attack at Mengal’s residence in Khuzdar.

The talks between the government and JI began on September 7 after the two sides agreed to form committees, comprising experts and leaders, to discuss recommendations for reducing the petroleum levy and providing relief to the public.

So far, three rounds of talks have been held, with the fourth round scheduled for 6pm today (Wednesday) in Islamabad.

According to a statement issued by the party, the JI chief spoke in Karachi earlier in the day, where he rejected the government’s fuel relief scheme and demanded that the levy be abolished, “rather than replaced with temporary relief schemes”.

“If the government continues delaying and does not abolish the petroleum levy, today’s talks will be the last round,” Rehman was quoted as saying, reiterating that the party will go ahead with its march to Islamabad on Sept 20.

As per the statement, Rehman said the government collected Rs1,567 billion through the petroleum levy annually but announced only Rs25bn in relief for the public.

He described the package as inadequate and questioned its proposed implementation through weekly fuel distribution, the statement added.

Rehman slammed “lockdown measures”. He added that the traders were “being pressured in the name of maintaining the system”.

As per the statement, Rehman “called for an end to the practice of revising petroleum prices daily”. He voiced concern at the “frequent revisions”, which he said created difficulties for consumers and businesses.

Speaking to the media, Rehman also outlined plans to hold “public meetings”, adding that a “large gathering” would be held in Karachi on Wednesday night, followed by rallies in Lahore on Thursday, and in Mardan and Peshawar on Friday.

“The Islamabad march will not stop,” he was quoted as saying. Rehman urged the government not to disrupt peaceful and democratic struggle, according to the statement.

Meanwhile, in a post on X, the party said that Wednesday’s round will be held in the Federal Secretariat at 6pm, with the JI delegation led by Liaquat Baloch and the government by Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal.

The government’s team will also include Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah, Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik and Minister of State for Finance Bilal Azhar Kayani.

JI has been staging regular sit-ins in Lahore, Peshawar, Karachi and dozens of other locations across the country since August 16 to protest the levy and IPP agreements.

The government levies Rs114 per litre in taxes and duties on petrol and Rs100 per litre on diesel.

Last week, the JI chief had warned the government that the ongoing protest would march towards Islamabad on September 20 if the levy was not withdrawn.

The KP chief minister has been visiting Punjab since Monday to mobilise party supporters ahead of the PTI’s nationwide protest scheduled for Sept 27.

Earlier on Wednesday, Afridi issued a video statement, which he said was recorded shortly before 5am, giving his version of events.

The KP CM alleged that hurdles were created during his stay in Sialkot, with power supplies cut off and the electricity generators at two residences he visited “ruined”. He subsequently travelled to Wazirabad.

“They had sent an assassin after us with the intention to kill. He was in civil clothes. When we arrived in Wazirabad, my security team apprehended this armed individual, recovered a pistol from him, and handed him over to the local SHO (station house officer),” he claimed.

Afridi reiterated his stance in an X post at 5:49am, saying his security team handed the “bearded man” over to SHO Saqlain after apprehending him.

The KP CM recalled that he was supposed to spend the night in Sialkot, but the electricity was “cut off”. He added that power at two other locations was also disconnected, after which he travelled to Wazirabad.

“Now, the electricity here has also been cut off. I cannot go anywhere else from here now,” the chief minister lamented.

However, in separate statements, Gujranwala Police and Wazirabad City police station said the man was Constable Muqadas Ali, who had been deployed on security duty for Afridi.

Gujranwala Police said the constable was “subjected to severe physical assault by members of the chief minister’s protection team”.

“Importantly, Constable Muqadas Ali was allegedly assaulted in the presence of the SHO City Wazirabad, who intervened and after considerable effort, managed to rescue the constable. The SHO’s presence can also be clearly seen in footage and images from the scene,” the statement said.

The police said the “misrepresentation of facts” and the constable’s “portrayal as a killer is a matter of serious concern”.

According to Gujranwala Police, following the incident, “claims portraying Constable Ali as a ‘killer’ emerged from representatives” of the KP CM.

“These claims misrepresent the facts, despite his identity having already been established at the scene and his departmental identity card having been presented.”

The police asserted that “any baseless and factually incorrect portrayal of its personnel is unacceptable”.

“Misrepresenting facts and portraying a police officer deployed on official duty as a killer is strongly condemnable,” it added.

“It is a matter of serious concern that, after the incident, the constable was allegedly portrayed as a ‘murderer’, despite his identity and official duty being established at the spot,” the statement from Wazirabad City police said.

Punjab Inf­ormation Minister Azma Bokhari also reiterated the police’s stance.

“God knows why such fits of madness strike them as soon as they reach Wazirabad,” she quipped.

On Nov 3, 2022, during PTI’s long march in Wazirabad, former premier Imran Khan and several others were injured in a gun attack, while one worker had lost his life. In 2025, a man was handed life imprisonment for the attack, while two others were acquitted.

Additional input from Asif Chaudhry