Militancy in K-P: Stray bomb kills three children and their mother

Protesting family members question government’s effectiveness against militants.

PESHAWAR: A stray mortar bomb smashed through a house in a village in a suburb of Peshawar early Sunday, killing three children and their mother and injuring their father, police said.

The pre-dawn incident took place in Shaikhan village, a suburb of Peshawar close to the Khyber Agency, where the military is fighting against local warlord Mangal Bagh and his Lashkar-e-Islam faction.

“The victims were asleep. A mother and her three children died on the spot,” Shafiullah Khan, a senior police officer told AFP.

The dead were identified as 28-year-old Jabeena, four-year-old Hamida, one-year-old Nadia and eight-year-old Syed Umar.

A portion of the house was completely destroyed in the incident. The officer said it was not yet clear who fired the mortar bomb but Pakistani troops and Mangal Bagh’s fighters exchange fire on a daily basis.

Talking to The Express Tribune, a local elder of Shaikhan village, Akbar Khan, said that the house belonged to Doolat Mir, who was a Frontier Corps personnel and was residing in the area for the past couple of years. According to Akbar, Doolat’s wife and three children were killed on the spot while Doolat himself was seriously injured.

Relatives of the victims brought the bodies in front of Peshawar Press Club and staged a demonstration against the government and security officials for failing to provide adequate security.  The enraged family members, flanked by residents of the area and social activists, placed the bodies on Sher Shah Suri Road and chanted slogans against the government.

The aggrieved brother of Dolat Mir, who was severely injured in the incident, said that the people settled in the area bordering Khyber Agency were living in constant fear of their lives.

“It seems that we are left at the mercy of militants. Despite military operations against terrorists and a huge presence of military personnel in Khyber Agency such incidents are beyond our comprehension,” Mir said.

Separately, Taliban militants on Sunday bombed a house in Khuga Khel area of Khyber Agency.

Lashkar-e-Islam militants completely destroyed a house in Khoga Khel using explosives however, there were no reported casualties in the incident. Villagers and police exchanged fire with the militants and forced them to flee after the attack.

Soon after, militants surrounded and attacked the combined check post of police and Frontier Constabulary (FC) located in the Aziz Market area. The exchange of fire lasted for more than 30 minutes in which RPGs, medium and heavy machineguns were used in the crossfire. The militants allegedly escaped towards the Akka Khel area of the Khyber Agency.

(Additional information from AFP)

Published in The Express Tribune, July 16^th, 2012.