Carnage averted at vintage car rally as bomb defuses

Explosive device was found fitted under journalist’s car

LANDIKOTAL: A terror bid targeting a vintage car rally was thwarted thanks to the timely detection of a bomb planted under one of the media cars following the rally for coverage.

The Frontier Corps (FC) bomb disposal unit (BDU) detected and neutralised the magnetic bomb which was found attached to the undercarriage of a car carrying local journalists in Khyber Agency.

The journalists travelling in the car have been taken into custody for questioning, security sources said.

The incident took place hours after Additional Inspector General of Police fell victim to a suicide attack in Peshawar and a day after five terrorists were arrested from Shabqadar with explosives and ammunition.



According to reports, the media people were on their way to cover a car rally which is travelling from Peshawar to Torkham.

When the car reached the Charwazgai Check Post in Landikotal Tehsil, ahead of the main rally, a routine check by the Khasadars found a suspicious item attached to the bottom of the car.

“We informed our superiors and the message was conveyed to FC’s BDU,” a security official said.

The BDU soon arrived and said that the suspicious item was a bomb. The squad defused the explosive and averted a tragedy.

The official also stated that the car had arrived at the check post ahead of the rally. Had the bomb not been defused, it could have caused loss of lives, adding that the journalists, including one who claimed to be reporting for a foreign media outlet, were being questioned.

Local media, however, was subsequently stopped from covering the rally.

Once the rally reaches Torkham, it will turn and head south towards Karachi.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 25^th, 2017.