KHYBER AGENCY – At least 18 personnel of Khasadar Force including Line Officer Jamrud were killed and 12 others got injured when a suicide bomber rammed his car laden with explosives into a patrol vehicle here at Wazirdand area near Karkhano Check Post on Wednesday.
Assistant Political Agent Jamrud, Rehan Gul, confirmed the casualties in the suicide attack.
Soon after the attack, the injured were shifted to Hayatabad Medical Complex, however, according to hospital sources, some of them are in critical condition. A tribal journalist is also included in the injured. After the incident, the main Pak Afghan Highway remained blocked for two hours. Line Officer Jamrud, Zarmat Khan Afridi, was standing along with other Khasadars near his official pickup when the gory incident occurred. He was nominated for the National Pakistani Gallantry award (Tamgha-e-Shujaat) for his courageous role against the extremists in Jamrud area, sources informed. He played an active role against the militants in every operation and raids in the area.
AFP adds: Three other vehicles were heavily damaged by flying shrapnel. The shoes and slippers of victims were scattered across the blood-spattered road, an AFP reporter said. “Seven of the dead are Khasadars (tribal policemen) and we are trying to ascertain the identity of others,” Shafeerullah Wazir, the administration chief of Khyber, told AFP.
Wazirdand is a small town near Peshawar and on the edge of the tribal belt, which lies outside direct government control and has been branded by US officials as the headquarters of Al-Qaeda. The blast tore through the vehicle in the Wazirdand area of Khyber, the infamous mountain district that straddles a main supply line for NATO troops in Afghanistan.
There was no claim of responsibility, but Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants have killed around 3,000 people in bomb attacks across Pakistan since July 2007 to oppose the governmentÂ’s alliance with the United States. WednesdayÂ’s bomb was the first since Friday, when 33 people died in attacks targeting a bus of Shiite mourners and the hospital where the victims were rushed for treatment in Karachi.
Securityman dies in Wana mine blast
A security officer was killed while another sustained serious injuries when their vehicle hit a roadside landmine in the Sarokai area of South Waziristan Agency on Wednesday morning.
A private TV channel quoted sources as saying that the incident took place when a security forces caravan was travelling from Wana to Tank. A roadside landmine when one of the vehicles of the convoy hit it, resulting in death of an officer while injuring another.
After the blast the security forces surrounded the area and started search operation in the area. It may be recalled here operation Rah-e-Nijat has been underway against Taliban led militants in South Waziristan since October 17, 2008 and round about 98 percent area of agency has been cleared from militants.