Militancy: Six ‘militants’ killed in Kurram Agency

Boys’ primary school blown up in Bajaur.

PESHAWAR: At least six militants were killed and many others injured when gunship helicopters pounded militant hideouts in the Kurram Agency on Wednesday.

Security officials told The Express Tribune that attack helicopters pounded three hideouts in the Spari Kot and Chinrag areas near the border of the Khyber Agency.

The exact number of the injured people could not be confirmed.

Over the past few years, Kurram Agency has witnessed a surge in sectarian violence in which hundreds of tribesmen have been killed.

Taliban militants are also active in the Kurram Agency, fanning intolerance and extremism in the volatile region.

Interestingly, there is a band of Shia militants active in the region who go by the name of ‘Haideri Taliban’.

Also on Wednesday, militants blew up a boys’ primary school in the Bajaur Agency, sources said.

Local sources said that the school was located in the Gaokhani village of Salarazai tehsil of Bajaur Agency. Sources said that the three-room school building was completely destroyed.

So far, militants have destroyed 101 schools in Bajaur. Attacks on schools are a dominant characteristic of the ongoing militancy.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 30^th, 2010.