Targeted: Three dead in Kurram passenger bus assault

Security personnel arrest one of the attackers, recover arms.

KOHAT:

Three people were killed and another six injured when unidentified assailants ambushed a passenger bus near Charkhel village of the Kurram Agency on Monday, said Shahab Shah, an official of the political administration, while talking to The Express Tribune.

A passenger coach, en route to Peshawar from Parachinar, was attacked on the Thal-Parachinar Road by the attackers.

“At first, they hurled a grenade towards the passengers, and then opened indiscriminate fire,” added Shah.

The attackers were driving a black Corolla, according to Shah.

The security forces later cordoned off the area, arresting one of the attackers and recovering weapons from his possession.

The dead and the injured passengers were shifted to the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Thal and the Civil Headquarters Hospital (CCH) in Hangu.

“The political administration had put a check on the privileges of tribesmen from the Onizai tribe and had also taken into custody their vehicles, under a joint responsibility clause of the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR),” pointed out a security official.

Sajid Turi, member of the National Assembly from Kurram and Haji Hamid Hussain, tribal elder of the Turi Bangash tribe termed the incident a terrorist attack and demanded immediate action against the attackers on part of the authorities.

They also warned against any further attacks on passenger buses in Kurram, pointing out such assaults can destroy peace across the tribal belt.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 29^th, 2012.