Transgender killed in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa amid safety concerns

A transgender was killed and another critically injured when unknown armed men riding a motorbike opened fired at their vehicle in northwest Pakistan, police said on Wednesday. The incident occurred in Jattak Ismail Khel area of restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa late Tuesday night when three transgenders from Peshawar were returning after attending a wedding ceremony.

On their way back the unknown assailants fired at their vehicle, killing one and injuring another, police said. The deceased transgender was identified as Jahangir while the injured as Mushtaq. The injured transgender was shifted to hospital for treatment, police said.

Police cordoned off the area and have started the search for the assailants, it added. Attacks on transgenders in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province have seen an increase in the last year.

In March 2018, gunmen shot dead a transgender woman and her friend while they were in a rickshaw. Similarly, in August another transgender was shot dead by some unidentified assailants who dumped her body in a sack in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.