Four killed in Upper Dir cross-border attack

Woman and two others injured in attack, two of the attackers also killed in retaliation

UPPER DIR: Militants stormed a house in the Upper Dir district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and killed four members of a peace militia Friday night after crossing into Pakistan from Afghanistan. A woman and two others were injured in the attack.

Two of the attackers were also killed in retaliation.

The heavily-armed militants sneaked in from northeastern Afghanistan and attacked the house in the Sonai Darra area in the Barawal tehsil, an official of the Upper Dir police told The Express Tribune on the condition of anonymity.

Four men were killed and a woman was wounded in the attack. The deceased – identified as Obaidullah, Sher Bacha, Masil and Nazamin – were members of a local peace militia, the official added.

After the attack, the local peace militia, aided by the security forces, mounted a retaliatory attack, killing two of the attackers in the ensuing fighting that also left two members of the peace militia, Halim and Bashir, injured.

The injured were rushed to the District Headquarters Hospital Upper Dir.

It wasn’t immediately known if the militants were locals or Afghan nationals as they carried no identification.

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