Sectarian attack?: One killed in IED blast in Orakzai Agency

Tribal malik gunned down over personal enmity in Kohat

HANGU:

A passenger van came under a bomb attack in Lower Orakzai on Saturday morning, claiming the life of the driver while a passenger was severely injured.

An official of the political administration said the van was en route to Kohat from Khar Khoshta in Lower Orakzai, adding most of the passengers including the driver belonged to the Shia sect. He added an improvised explosive device planted along the roadside went off in front of the van as it reached Doulat Mosa village. The driver died on the spot while a passenger sitting in the front seat sustained severe injuries.

The deceased driver was identified as Akbar Ali and the injured passenger as Israf Ali, who was taken to a hospital in Kohat. Security forces rushed to the spot after the explosion and initiated a search operation in surrounding areas. However, no one was arrested till this report was filed, shared the political administration official.

Separately, a Shia tribal elder was gunned down over a personal dispute in Usterzai area of Kohat in the late hours of Friday.

An Usterzai police official said Malik Hikmat Ali, a tribal malik of the Shia sect in both Orakzai Agency and Usterzai area of Kohat, was returning home late Friday when the accused, Amir Ali, approached him and opened fire, injuring Hikmat severely.

The official said Hikmat was taken to Kohat Divisional Hospital in critical condition where the doctors operated on him and took out the bullets. However, Hikmat’s condition later deteriorated and the doctors referred him to Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar. The official explained that the elder succumbed to his injuries on the way to LRH.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 12^th, 2014.