Khyber agency violence: Mortar shells fired at a shrine

Two mortar shells were fired at a shrine and madrassa in the Khyber agency.

KHYBER: Two mortar shells were fired at a shrine and madrassa adjacent to the house of former federal minister for Zakat and MNA from Khyber agency Allama Noorul Haque Qadri. An eyewitness, Shahid Mir Zaman Shanwari, who is from Peerukhel village, said that residents heard two loud blasts in the area at night and they saw in the morning that someone had fired mortar shells from the mountains on the shrine of Hazrat Haji Gul Saheb and the mosque adjacent to it. One of the shells did not explode. The main gate of the madrassa was damaged by the other shell. A heavy contingent of the security forces and the Khasadar force launched a brief search operation, but no arrests are reported.  The staff of the Khyber Rifles defused the unexploded shell.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 19^th, 2011.