Timely intervention: Security men intercept suicide attacker in Kurram Agency

PESHAWAR: A Frontier Corps soldier and three other people were injured on Friday when a suicide bomber was intercepted at a check point in Kharlachi Gate in Kurram tribal  agency near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

“The bomber was restricted thanks to the timely intervention of FC officials deployed at the entry point,” said one official. There could have been several fatalities had the bomber not been intercepted, the official added.

Officials said the incident took place a day after Ashura when there was a security high alert in place. For years, Kurram has also been a hotbed of sectarian unrest.

“He (the suicide bomber) was asked to stop midway but he ran towards the security officials,” the official said. The security officials were furious that the Afghan border forces had failed to stop the would-be bomber from making his way towards the Pakistani check point.

Kharlachi Gate is one of the main trade arteries from Pakistan to Afghanistan in the Federally-Administered Tribal Areas (Fata). The political administration of Kurram announced Rs50,000 in  compensation for all the injured.

An offshoot of the outlawed TTP, Jamatul Ahrar, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Meanwhile, the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD  arrested a man from Chakdara Bazaar who was on the wanted list.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 15^th, 2016.