Securing Bara?: 4 more mortars land near FC Headquarters

Three children injured as shells hit Hayatabad residential area .

PESHAWAR: Three children were injured when four mortar rounds were fired from Khyber Agency hit the residential neighbourhood of Hayatabad on Thursday, the second such incident in two days.

Police told The Express Tribune that two shells hit Street 8 and one landed in the green belt near Street 1 in Phase 6.

“Three children have been slightly injured in the mortar attack. They were rushed to the hospital and discharged after receiving first aid,” said a police official. “The sound of the explosion caused much panic among residents.” Police said the target of the attack appeared to be the Frontier Corps (FC) Headquarters.

On Wednesday, five mortars were fired from the same locality, three of which landed in the FC Headquarters, while two crashed into the densely populated area. There were no casualties.

A security official said Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) militants were responsible for the incident. Militants use civilians as a convenient shield while simultaneously targeting them and security forces, he added. “The use of civilians as shields creates hurdles for the ongoing military operation in Bara.”



The official added that security forces were negotiating with the political administration to vacate tribesmen from troubled areas in order to launch a “clean sweep” military offensive. The shells were fired from a four to five-kilometres range from the mountainous region of Shalobar, Khyber Agency.

“With the tribesmen present in the area, forces cannot launch an operation,” he said, adding in order to avoid ‘collateral damage’ civilians should vacate their houses temporarily.

In May 2012, around 400 families had to leave their homes in Shalobar after the political administration set a deadline for a military operation. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 0.23 million people were displaced to the Jalozai camp.

In October 2011, security officials gave Bara residents a day’s notice to vacate their homes before military operations resumed.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 25^th, 2013.