The targeted IED attack occurred near the vehicle of peace committee workers. PHOTO: EXPRESS
Suspected militants remotely detonated an improvised explosive device (IED) when a vehicle carrying the volunteers drove past Dars Jummat in the Akka Khel area of Bara, Khalid Mahmud, the political agent of Khyber Agency, told The Express Tribune.
“The blast occurred outside the house of a pro-government tribal elder, Malik Zar Wali,” he added. “The fatalities included an official of Levies, a tribal police force.”
According to preliminary investigations, it was an IED which was remotely triggered. The vehicle was reduced to a heap of mangled metal.
Last week, a Khyber Agency village bordering Afghanistan was evacuated after shelling from across the border killed three people, including a child.
Seven security personnel injured in Khyber Agency blast
Around 3,000 tribesmen of Sheenpokh village had been asked to leave their homes as part of the precautionary measures being taken by the local political administration, official sources told The Express Tribune on Sunday.
Last month, Pakistan Army killed several terrorists who had crossed over from Afghanistan in targeted airstrikes in the agency.
In August 2016, the military mounted a relatively small-scale operation, codenamed Khyber-III, to secure Tirah Valley and deny terrorists ease of movement between Khyber and Kurram agencies, and between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Since then, the writ of the state has been re-established in the region and life has started returning to normal.
Over in Bajaur Agency, nine remote-controlled bombs were defused on Monday. According to the local political administration, the bombs had been found during an intelligence-driven raid in the Khairabad area of Khar, the main administrative town of the agency. The bombs weighed five kilos each.
(With additional reporting by our correspondent in Shabqadar)
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