FATA violence: Four security personnel killed in various attacks

TTP claims to have apprehended five personnel.

UPPER DIR: At least one security personnel was killed and two injured when militants attacked a check post in Bin Darra area near the Pak-Afghan border in district Upper Dir on Friday, security officials said.

Officials claimed that more than five militants were killed in retaliation when militants from across the border fired at the Karakar check post at around noon in Bin Darra area of Tehsil Barawal.

The deceased and injured were shifted to Shahi Kot Army Unit Hospital in Upper Dir.

Meanwhile, one security official was killed and two others were injured when a security forces’ mobile patrol hit a road side IED in Sararogha, South Waziristan on Friday, according to security officials.

Five security personnel missing

Addressing the media from an unknown location, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesperson Ihsanullah Ihsan said they had kidnapped some security personnel whose video would soon be released. “Two of our men were also killed during clashes” Ihsan said.

A security official confirmed that five of their colleagues were missing and their whereabouts were unknown.

Meanwhile, Lakki Marwat police arrested Muhammad Tahir, brother of local TTP commander Ashraf Ali, according to a press statement issued by DPO Lakki Marwat Umar Fayaz.

Tahir was apprehended after police received a tip-off for his location, according to the statement.

He was allegedly involved in the Shah Hassan Khel suicide blast in Lakki Marwat on January 1, 2010, in which more than a 100 people were killed and approximately 30 injured.

Tahir is being kept in an undisclosed location and will be presented before the court on Saturday (today), another police official told The Express Tribune.

IED kills 2 levies personnel

An improvised explosive device (IED) exploded near a Levies post at Khra Shah, Tehsil Khwaizai in Baezai sub-division of Mohmand Agency late Friday evening, security sources of the Mohmand political administration told The Express Tribune.

“There was firing heard after the incident, possibly mortar shells,” the official said.

As a result of the blast and firing, two Levies personnel – Hameedullah and Ismail – were killed while two others were seriously injured. The men were shifted to Agency Headquarter Hospital, Ghallanai.