Militancy in the north: Three peace militia members killed in Tirah Valley blast

Militants detonate bomb in compound of peace Lashkar; girls school blown up in Orakzai.

NOWSHERA/ HANGU/ PESHAWAR: At least three people were killed and five critically injured in bomb attack on a pro-government militia in the remote Tirah Valley of Khyber Agency on Sunday.

An improvised explosive device (IED) was detonated in a compound belonging to the peace Lashkar in the Narai Baba area of Tirah, according to sources. At the time of the blast, some members of the Lashkar were present in the compound which was destroyed in the explosion.



Three militia members were killed on the spot and five received shrapnel wounds. The casualties were driven to local clinics, where most of the injured were listed in critical condition. Tribesmen say that militants from the Mangal Bagh-led Lashkar-e-Islam extremist group had planted the IED near the compound.

The Lashkar has been at loggerheads with the LeI for the last couple of years. Security forces are also engaged in military operation, codenamed Khyber-I, in Tirah and Bara areas since October 2014 and are largely targeting the LeI.

In other violence, suspected militants triggered a homemade bomb near Government Girls Middle School in the Bezot area of Lower Orakzai Agency Sunday morning.

The region’s education officer, Habibullah, said the explosion took place around 6am. “Two classrooms of the school’s primary section and a veranda were destroyed in the blast,” he said, adding that the boundary wall of a nearby house was also damaged.

“However, no human loss was reported as no one was present in the school at the time of the explosion,” Habibullah said.

The local political administration confirmed the blast and said that the school watchman has been detained for questioning. With Sunday’s attack, the number of schools destroyed by militants in the agency has risen to 106.

Meanwhile in Nowshera district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, security forces allegedly opened fire on a vehicle which didn’t stop at a checkpoint on Cherat Road near Cherat Cement Factory, killing two passengers and injuring four others.

Later, it transpired that the male workers of the cement factory were en route to the factory for 6am duty shift. The incident was the result of misunderstanding. The local police were reluctant to register an FIR.  Heirs of the two dead men – identified as Saidullah and Malik Shah – staged a sit-in on the GT Road with the bodies.

In separate clashes, which took place between security forces and armed men in the Shaido area of Nowshera, a person, Gohar Ali, was killed while another man, Banaras, was injured.  Gohar Ali was reported to be an activist of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.

Security forces and secret agencies have been engaged in targeted search operations in Nowshera and have detained dozens of suspects, including an alleged militant commander.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 9^th, 2015.