Khyber agency: Mortar shell death toll reaches 10

Four students among dead.

PESHAWAR:

Death toll into the Khyber Agency mortar shell incident has reached 10, while the number of injured are now reported to be 12, locals told The Express Tribune on Sunday.

On Saturday evening, mortar shells hit residential areas in Sheikh Mero Baba. Initial reports suggested that three people had died, while 11 were injured.

Residents said that a sixth-grade student Abdul Salam and three other students were among the dead.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Nawaz Khan, a relative of another victim, said: “Luqman, Bilal and Abdullah were FA students, while Abdul Salam was a minor.” The students were inside their house at the time of the incident.

“The volley of shells came from an unknown direction and destroyed several houses, killing nine people on the spot and one in the hospital,” he said.

Another resident Bahader Khan said funeral prayers for nine people were held on Sunday morning.  “None of the dead were militants and we don’t know who targeted us and why.”

Contrary to initial reports, police said the incident took place well inside the tribal territory and a few hundred yards away from the boundary of Peshawar and Khyber Agency. Police said there are rumours of five mortars hitting a playground and surrounding houses in the area.

“The entire area has been gripped by widespread panic as most of the residents have abandoned their houses after the attack and are reluctant to go back,” said a local Waheedullah.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 27^th, 2012.