Eighteen militants killed in Kurram Agency

PESHAWAR: At least 18 militants were killed, and 16 others were injured, in two incidents involving remote controlled bomb attacks and shelling by security forces in Kurram Agency on Saturday, sources said.

A vehicle carrying militants was targeted by a remote controlled bomb as it passed through the Mirandah Road area of Central Kurram Agency. The attack left at least 12 militants dead and six others injured. It is not clear who carried out the strike. The militants belonged to Noor Jamal alias Mullah Tufan group.

Separately, six militants were killed and 10 others injured when security forces shelled the Chinrak area of Central Kurram and Bakha area of Orakzai Agency. The shelling also destroyed three militant hideouts in the area.

In another incident, some time back, at least six militants were killed in a remote controlled bomb attack in Kurram Agency. No organisation claimed responsibility for that attack either. Local sources say that the attack could be a result of clashes between the Mullah Tufan group and the Rafiq Mengal group since the Mullah Tufan group had taken into custody and executed members of the Rafiq group some months back. Mullah Tufan is the commander of Tehrik Taliban Pakistan (TTP) for the Orakzai and Kurram agencies

However, Haideri Taliban and a local lashkar were also active against militants in the area and local sources say that they cannot be ruled out as the persons behind all these attacks, either.

Sectarian tensions have been running high in the Kurram Agency for the more than two years where clashes have claimed hundreds of lives.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 5^th, 2010.