Militant violence: Two soldiers killed in Peshawar bomb attack

Fresh airstrikes in Tirah Valley of Khyber Agency leave 22 militants dead

PESHAWAR/ BARA: Two Pakistan Army soldiers were killed in a bomb attack on the outskirts of Peshawar Friday morning. A vehicle carrying six soldiers from the Army Air Defence was en route to a unit located in the Warsak area when it was targeted near Garhi Mustajab bus stop on Warsak Road.

Naik Gul Khan, resident of Takhatbai, Mardan, was killed on the spot while another soldier Mashal, resident of Lakki Marwat, was fatally injured and expired during the course of treatment at the Combined Military Hospital, an official from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said. The bomb was strapped to a motorcycle which was parked by the roadside, he added. “It wasn’t a convoy. It was a lone vehicle.”

SSP Operation Najeebur Rehman Bagvi told The Express Tribune that it was a remotely detonated device weighing four to five kilogrammes. “Ball bearings were also used in the device which caused damage to the vehicle and those on board,” he added.

The bomb was triggered when the army vehicle slowed down on a patch of road which was under construction. SSP Bagvi said a search operation was under way in the area. “Internally displaced persons (IDPs) also live in the area in rented houses without sharing their information with the local police,” he said.

SSP Bagvi said there was presence of militants in the surrounding areas as it was the only entry and exit point to Mohmand Agency.

Meanwhile the military claims to have killed at least 22 militants in fresh air strikes in the remote Tirah Valley of Khyber Agency where an operation has been ongoing since mid-October. The ISPR said that several hideouts of militants were destroyed in the air raids.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 22^nd, 2014.