Crackdown: Officials recover weapons, explosives

6 pressure bombs, 16 missile shells, 27 rocket shells, 1000s of cartridges recovered from a local mosque.

KHAR: A huge cache of weapons and explosives was recovered from a mosque in Tair Bandhagai area of Mamond during a search operation on Thursday. An official of the political administration said security forces and levies launched an operation in Tair Bandhagai, 55 kilometres away from Khar, Bajaur agency’s headquarters. He said eight improvised explosive devices, six pressure bombs, 16 missile shells, 27 rocket shells, several hand grenades, home-made bombs, 75 RR shells, thousands of cartridges and a cache of explosives were recovered from a local mosque. The official said most weapons had been under militants’ use and were stored in the basement. The official said security forces and levies aim to clear the area of heavy weapons under special directives.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 10^th, 2014.