Shootout: DI Khan jailbreak attacker killed

70kg of explosives recovered, defused in Chamkani.

DI KHAN/PESHAWAR: Three members of a banned organisation and security forces exchanged fire when police raided a house in Jehangirabad village of Roddi, Kulachi tehsil on Sunday. As a result, a wanted criminal was killed and a member of the elite police injured.

Matiullah, a member of a banned militant outfit, was wanted by the police for taking part in the DI Khan jailbreak in 2013, several attacks on security personnel and multiple kidnapping cases. The injured police official, identified as Salim, was shifted to the District Headquarters and Teaching Hospital where he was said to be in stable condition.

BDU saves the day

The bomb disposal unit (BDU) defused 70 kilogrammes worth of explosives on Sunday in Wadpaga village near Chamkani police station. A suicide vest packed with 10kg and two jute sacks with 30 kilogrammes (kg) of munitions were recovered from the area and successfully neutralised.

According to the police, the two bags and vest were found dumped in a nullah in Wadpaga village after locals reported seeing something suspicious lying there. The police responded by cordoning off the area and calling the BDU which proceeded to successfully defuse the explosives.

“These two improvised explosive devises and the suicide vest were dumped by miscreants who probably feared getting caught red-handed by law enforcement agencies,” a Chamkani police official told The Express Tribune. An FIR is being registered against unidentified miscreants, he added.

Meanwhile on Saturday night, unidentified miscreants blew up an electricity pylon in Masho Khel village.

“Four explosive devices were planted on the four pillars of the pylon – they went off with a loud bang and brought down the pylon,” said an official of the Badbaher police station. Each of the four devices contained approximately 2.5kg of explosive material.

The destruction of the tower disrupted the power supply to Mattani and other adjacent areas, including parts of Khyber Agency. 

Published in The Express Tribune, April 28^th, 2014.