While the polio workers remained safe, a vehicle in an FC convoy on routine patrol duty was destroyed. PHOTO: ONLINE/FILE
Three Frontier Corps officials suffered severe injuries in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast on Shalman Road in Landikotal tehsil of Khyber Agency on Monday.
The bomb went off at a time when a polio drive team was passing through the area. While the polio workers remained safe, a vehicle in an FC convoy on routine patrol duty was destroyed in the blast.
Political administration official Amjid Shinwari revealed the IED exploded near Zakariya Masjid in Khuga Khel. “It could not be ascertained whether the militants who had planted the device were actually targeting the FC convoy or the polio vaccination team.”
Shinwari said after the incident, heavy contingents of khasadar officials and FC personnel rushed to the site and conducted a search operation to look for culprits.
The injured were taken to Landikotal’s Combined Military Hospital (CMH), from where they were referred to CMH, Peshawar on account of their condition being critical.
Sualeh Muhammad, who is the focal person of the polio campaign in Khyber Agency shared the vaccination drive will continue despite the blast under strict security measures to ensure the safety of polio teams in the agency.
To the rescue
Shinwari shared during the search operation, a tribesman walking along Shalman Road spotted a suspicious object a kilometre away from the explosion site, in Bosaid Kallay, Mirdad, and informed security officials.
FC personnel accompanied by khasadars and a bomb disposal squad (BDS) team rushed to the site and defused the bomb. BDS officials reported around five kilogrammes of explosives were used in the neutralised bomb.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 11th, 2014.
COMMENTS (1)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
Interesting!!!And they killed 4 women in Peshawar ,and injured three FC officials after this demand.