At least four female aid workers were killed in an ambush by two gunmen in northwestern Pakistan. The aid workers, assisting a program run by a local institute to develop household skills for women, were killed on Monday attack in the northwestern Pakistani district of North Waziristan, which was once the headquarters of the Pakistani Taliban, Al Jazeera reported.
While there was no specific threat against the aid workers, senior police official Shafiullah Gandapur told Al Jazeera that women traveling freely is not acceptable in the local tribal culture. Under the Pakistani Taliban, which was driven out in 2014, women’s free movement was restricted and NGO activity curtailed.
In the last year there has been an increase in targeted attacks in the district, with the return of internally displaced people after several years. Some 58 people, such as security officers and tribal leaders, were killed last year.