Armed men occupy Sikhs' homes in Peshawar

Armed militants have occupied four homes of members of the minority Sikh community in Pakistan's restive Aurakzai tribal region near the northwestern city of Peshawar, a media report said on Wednesday.

About 200 armed militants arrived at Qasimkhel village in Aurakzai Agency on Tuesday and demanded Rs 40 million from the Sikhs, said Galyan Singh, an elder of the minority community.

"We failed to pay the amount and they forced the 38-member Sikh community to vacate houses," Singh told The News daily.

The families that were evicted from their homes have taken refuge in Manikhel area, Singh said. Local residents of Qasimkhel condemned the incident and said injustice had been done to the Sikhs. There is a sizeable number of Sikhs living in Peshawar and adjoining semi-autonomous tribal regions.