Back to back: IED blasts target FC convoys

One official killed in Bajaur, three hurt in North Waziristan .

KHAR/ MIRANSHAH:

A Frontier Corps (FC) official was killed and three others were injured when an improvised explosive device (IED) exploded near their vehicle in Bajaur Agency. Three FC officials were injured in a similar blast in North Waziristan, also on Sunday.

A Bajaur political administration official said FC officials were on routine patrol in Ketkot, Mamond tehsil when an IED planted by unidentified militants exploded near their vehicle, injuring four personnel.

The official said after the explosion, tribesmen rushed to the site along with heavy contingents of khasadar and FC officials, and brought the injured to Khar Headquarters Hospital.

An FC official, identified as Mohibullah, died en route to the hospital while the rest, identified as Khursheed Khan, Muhammad Rabi and Naseebullah, were later referred to a hospital in Peshawar.

A search operation was launched in the area after the incident, however, no one was arrested.

North Waziristan attack

Three FC officials were injured when an IED planted at a roadside in Mirali tehsil of North Waziristan Agency exploded near their vehicle on Sunday.

An official of the security forces said an FC convoy was en route to Bannu in the morning when, near the Khajori check post, a roadside IED exploded, severely injuring three officials.

The official said the injured were taken to Combined Military Hospital, Bannu. After the incident, security forces pounded suspected militant hideouts in the tehsil and its surrounding areas using heavy artillery.

Life under curfew

Even as a curfew remains imposed in the agency following a surge of attacks against security forces, independent sources confirmed two women were killed and another severely injured when a mortar landed on a house in Khushali Tori Khel village. After the incident, tribesmen began vacating their houses but could not leave the area due to the ongoing curfew.

Those familiar with the matter shared tribesmen have also begun armed day and night patrols against militants in Mirali and Miranshah, and escort security forces’ convoys as well. The Pak-Afghan border in Ghulam Khan tehsil has been sealed and no vehicle is allowed to traverse the road or cross the border.

Meanwhile, an Afghan citizen was shot and injured in Miranshah Bazaar in the late hours of Saturday for violating the curfew. A security forces official said the Afghan national violated the curfew and was moving in the bazaar when he was asked to stop by a security forces official after which he started running and was thus shot, injured.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 12^th, 2014.