2 killed, 17 injured in Lower Kurram attack
Operation in Fata to recover four officials, police diffuses 40kg bomb in Peshawar.
PESHAWAR:
Two people were killed and 17 others were injured, when a passenger coach was hit by a roadside explosion in Lower Kurram Agency on Monday.
Confirming the attack, an official of the political administration told APP that the Peshawar-bound coach came under attack at Pir Qayyum village near Sadda, on Thall-Parachinar Road. “It was a remote controlled blast,” he said.
The injured, including nine women and four children, were rushed to Parachinar and Sadda hospitals. Security forces immediately launched an investigation into the attack.
Crackdown in FATA
The political administration has increased pressure on the Betani tribe in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) to ensure the recovery of four kidnapped officials.
Sources said that three officials of the Sustainable Plains Development Programme (SPDP), Jehanzeb Khan, Kachkol Khan, Awal Khan and Nasir Khan of the levy force were abducted at midnight on March 8.
The political administration gave a four-day deadline to the senior leaders of the Betani tribe for the release of the men, failing which they may face severe consequences. The administration had started a crackdown against the tribe after the lapse of the deadline.
On special instructions of Political Agent Nisar Ahmad, Assistant Political Agent Muhammad Fayaz Khan Sherpao was supervising the operation, and had started arresting the Masharaan (senior members) of the tribe. Sources said that dozens had been arrested and sent to prison under the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR).
The political administration made it clear that the operation against the tribe would continue, till the recovery of the abducted officials.
Car bomb defused
Peshawar police on Monday defused a powerful remote-controlled bomb concealed in a car near Ring Road in Peshawar.
The police were informed about the presence of a suspicious vehicle which had been parked along the road after which a heavy contingent of police personnel arrived on the spot. They immediately cordoned off the area and called the bomb disposal squad (BDS) to the scene. The BDS found a 40 kilogramme home-made device, coupled with a remote control.
(With additional input from Agencies)
Published in The Express Tribune, March 13th, 2012.
Two people were killed and 17 others were injured, when a passenger coach was hit by a roadside explosion in Lower Kurram Agency on Monday.
Confirming the attack, an official of the political administration told APP that the Peshawar-bound coach came under attack at Pir Qayyum village near Sadda, on Thall-Parachinar Road. “It was a remote controlled blast,” he said.
The injured, including nine women and four children, were rushed to Parachinar and Sadda hospitals. Security forces immediately launched an investigation into the attack.
Crackdown in FATA
The political administration has increased pressure on the Betani tribe in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) to ensure the recovery of four kidnapped officials.
Sources said that three officials of the Sustainable Plains Development Programme (SPDP), Jehanzeb Khan, Kachkol Khan, Awal Khan and Nasir Khan of the levy force were abducted at midnight on March 8.
The political administration gave a four-day deadline to the senior leaders of the Betani tribe for the release of the men, failing which they may face severe consequences. The administration had started a crackdown against the tribe after the lapse of the deadline.
On special instructions of Political Agent Nisar Ahmad, Assistant Political Agent Muhammad Fayaz Khan Sherpao was supervising the operation, and had started arresting the Masharaan (senior members) of the tribe. Sources said that dozens had been arrested and sent to prison under the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR).
The political administration made it clear that the operation against the tribe would continue, till the recovery of the abducted officials.
Car bomb defused
Peshawar police on Monday defused a powerful remote-controlled bomb concealed in a car near Ring Road in Peshawar.
The police were informed about the presence of a suspicious vehicle which had been parked along the road after which a heavy contingent of police personnel arrived on the spot. They immediately cordoned off the area and called the bomb disposal squad (BDS) to the scene. The BDS found a 40 kilogramme home-made device, coupled with a remote control.
(With additional input from Agencies)
Published in The Express Tribune, March 13th, 2012.