One child killed in bomb blast in NW Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, March 10 (Xinhua) -- At least one child was killed on Sunday afternoon when a bomb blast hit Pakistan's northwestern tribal region of Khyber Agency, local media and officials said.
Local media quoting security officials reported that the bomb was planted alongside the wall of a house in the Ashraf Khel area of Landi Kotal, a main town in Khyber Agency.

According to the security officials, the bomb was detonated with a time device that damaged the house partially and killed one child playing in the street.

Soon after the explosion, security forces and rescue teams rushed to the site.

No one was injured in the blast that spread panic among the locals.

Security forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation to arrest the culprits behind the incident.

No group or militant organization claimed responsibility for the attack yet.

from XINHUA
2013-03-10 17:42:44
Editor: Yang Lina

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Pakistani Soldier dies while defusing bomb in Bara

Map showing the districts of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) FATA and the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

LANDI KOTAL, Dec 9: A security man was killed and his colleague received injuries when they tried to defuse a bomb in Bara tehsil of Khyber Agency on Sunday.

Officials said that soldier Hashim Khan and his colleague Zafar Ali spotted a bomb along the road during routine patrol in Sheen Qamar area. They were trying to detach the wires of the bomb when it went off, killing Hashim Khan on the spot and injuring Zafar Ali.

The injured was shifted to a military hospital in Peshawar while the body of the killed soldier was sent to his ancestral village.

In North Waziristan Agency, the bullet riddled body of a paramilitary soldier, who was kidnapped along with his colleague from a checkpost on Friday, was found in Miramshah on Sunday.

Officials said that body of Hawaldar Adil Hussain was thrown near Miramshah Bazaar that was sent to his native town.

Adil Hussain and Niaz Ali were kidnapped from Bangi Dar checkpost by unidentified persons. Initially it was believed that kidnappers had shifted them to Afghanistan.

In Mohmand Agency, a veterinary centre was blown up by unidentified militants in Pandiali tehsil on Sunday.

The residents of the area said that militants planted explosive devices at the veterinary centre in Dawezai Haji Kor area and destroyed the building.

The political administration called sniffer dogs to trace the accused involved in the attack. However, no arrest was made till filing of this report.

Meanwhile, Mulla Jan, a resident of teshil Safi, died in Levies lockup due to illness on Sunday. Sources said that his body was shifted to his native village. He was arrested several years ago in Safi area, they added.

In SWABI, the office of an international NGO, Marie Stopes Society, was damaged in a blast on Sunday.

The office is located a few yards away from the offices of district coordination officer and district police officer on Swabi-Topi Road.

Officials said that the explosive material weighing at least five kilogram was packed in a canister and left outside the main gate of MSS office. The explosive material went off at around 5:20am and damaged the main gate and boundary wall of the office, they added.

Police said that nobody was present in the office at the time of the explosion.

from DAWN

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Four anti-Taliban militia members killed in Pakistan blast

ISLAMABAD: Four members of an anti-Taliban militia were killed when their vehicle was targeted by a roadside bomb in the restive Khyber tribal region of northwest Pakistan on Thursday.

An improvised explosive device planted by the road was detonated by remote control when the militia's vehicle was passing by in Tirah Valley near Landi Kotal town early this morning, officials said.

One man was killed instantly while three more died while being taken to hospital, the officials said.

The vehicle was destroyed in the blast. Security was beefed up in the area after the attack, for which no group claimed responsibility.

Several militant groups, including the Taliban and Lashkar-e-Islam, are active in the Khyber tribal agency.

from Times of India
Sep 13, 2012, 01.44PM IST

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Car bomb kills at least 13 at market in northwest Pakistan

Map of Pakistan (Photo credit: Omer Wazir)

(Reuters) - A bomb planted in a pickup truck killed at least 13 people at a market in northwest Pakistan on Saturday and the death toll could rise, security and hospital officials said.

The target in the town of Landi Kotal appeared to be a tribal leader allied with the government against the Pakistani Taliban, the Islamist militant group blamed for many of the suicide bombings across the country, security officials said.

They had earlier said a car bomb had caused the explosion. Hospital officials said 34 people were wounded.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

One security official said a suicide bomber connected with the attack began wandering around the town shortly after the explosion.

"The blast was so powerful, it was heard far and wide and caused damage to nearby buildings," said resident Sher Mohammad Shinwari, adding most of the casualties were fruit and vegetable traders who were beside their roadside push-carts.

The Pakistani Taliban are seeking to topple the U.S.-backed government. Suicide attacks have eased in recent months but there are no signs Pakistan's military has broken the back of the group.

(Reporting by Ismail Khan and Ibrahim Shinwari; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Nick Macfie)

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Khyber Agency: Three bodies found – killed by tribal militia

LANDIKOTAL: Villagers found three bodies on Wednesday in an area in the Khyber tribal region where a tribal militia had publicly executed three men earlier this week after accusing them of being cohorts of a powerful militant commander.

The bodies, bearing gunshot wounds, were discovered in the Zakhakhel bazaar area of Landi Kotal subdivision. An official of the Khasadar force (tribal police) identified the dead as Khanay, Jumma Khan and Aryana.

The official blamed a local militia, Tauheed-e-Islam. “These men were shot dead for allegedly spying for the banned extremist group Lashkar-e-Islam (LeI) and planting improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in the area,” the official said on condition of anonymity. He added that the militia has claimed responsibility for the grisly murders. An official of the political administration confirmed the deaths but said the dead men ‘could not be identified’ and refused to say how they were killed.

On March 17, the Tauheed-e-Islam militia had publicly executed three suspected LeI members in the same area, though security forces and political authorities denied any such executions in the region.

Search operation
Security forces have rounded up eight suspected militants during a search operation in Kandaokhel area since Tuesday night. They also defused two bombs planted at the Landikotal helipad, according to official sources.

On March 18, 14 bodies, bearing torture marks, were discovered by villagers in the Bara subdivision of Khyber Agency.

Local residents blamed the paramilitary Frontier Corps, which is conducting operations in the area, for the killing – an allegation that the force denied.

4 killed in N Waziristan
At least four people were killed and eight injured in separate incidents of violence in North Waziristan agency.

“Clashes between the Hurmaz and Muski sub-tribes in Mir Ali sub-division left one person killed and five other injured,” said an official of the political administration.

Eyewitnesses told The Express Tribune that the sub-tribes exchanged heavy gunfire over a land dispute. Tribal elders inter­­vened late evening and proposed a jirga.

In another tribal feud, three people were killed and three others were injured when two families clashed over the ownership of the Datta Khel bus stand. The culprits involved in the killings managed to escape. Later, a routine patrol by security forces resulted in their vehicle being hit by a roadside bomb, in the Khathonry area, North Waziristan.

(With additional input by our correspondent in MiraMshah)
Published in The Express Tribune, March 22^nd, 2012.
By Abuzar Afridi

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Six militants killed in Landi Kotal clash

LANDI KOTAL: At least six militants were killed and 12 injured on Friday after Lashkar-i-Islam and its rival Zakhakhel tribal force exchanged gunfire to gain control of a key base in Bazaar Zakhakhel area of Landi Kotal on Friday.

Officials said the dead were six Lashkar-i-Islam fighters, while the wounded included six fighters of the militant outfit and six Zakhakhel force volunteers.

They said Lashkar-i-Islam fighters attacked the Shankhel base of Zakhakhel force near Nari Baba area but the attack was repulsed after prolonged exchange of fire.

Officials said the two groups had many bloody clashes over the last many days for the control of key hilltops in the area.

Also in the day, the head of a peace committee remained safe in a blast targeting him in Sangar Khwar area of Mohmand Agency on Friday.

An explosive device planted near the house of Malik Mohammad Ali Haleemzai went off without causing any damage to the head of the peace committee.

The levies and khasadar personnel cordoned off the area and began an operation to hunt the perpetrators of the blast. However, no arrest could be made until late night.

Mr Haleemzai told Dawn that he and his guards were safe and that he was inside the house when the explosive device went off.

He said he was the apparent target of the blast as he used the passage, where the explosive device was planted, to go to the regional headquarters of Ghalanai in car.

Local political administration registered a case against unidentified miscreants and began investigation.

Meanwhile, a khasadar succumbed to his injuries at Peshawar`s Lady Reading Hospital on Friday.

Taj Mohammad, a resident of Gul Bar Shah Korona Ekkaghound, was doing his duty on a bridge near Ekkaghound on the main Peshawar-Bajaur highway when a speeding coach hit him. With critical wounded, he was shifted to the Lady Reading Hospital, where he died.

In a similar incident in Charsadda district`s Ibrahimzai area, a government girls` school was blown up by militants early on Friday.

Police and locals said miscreants planted an improvised explosive device inside the building of a government school for girls in Ibrahimzai area near Sradheri and that went off in the small hours of Friday.

They said the blast damaged the school`s boundary wall, rooms, furniture and documents.


from DAWN

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