Two days earlier, a member of the Pakistani Sikh community evaded and survived a barrage of gunshots fired at him by assassins of the Isalamic State terror group. The Pakistani Sikh shopkeeper was shot and killed late on Saturday in Peshawar.
Near Rasheed Garhi Chowk, five minutes' walk from Gurdwara Bhai Joga Singh, Manmohan Singh, 29, sold cosmetics. According to Gurpal Singh, a Sikh activist based in Peshawar, "he was on his way home by autorickshaw when motorcycle-borne terrorists shot him in the heart and head, killing him on the spot." The community pleaded with the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) and Sikhs worldwide on the sidelines of Manmohan's funeral on Sunday to highlight their plight and do everything in their power to ensure their safety in the face of the numerous terror attacks that have targeted them in Peshawar.
The Associated Press reported that IS claimed responsibility for Singh's death, claiming that he belonged to a "polytheistic" Sikh sect in Peshawar. Additionally, it claimed to have injured a Sikh in the city the day before.
According to Gurpal, some members of the 7,000-strong Sikh community in Peshawar had fled to Nankana Sahib and Lahore, while others had sought safety elsewhere, out of fear for their lives.