NORTH WAZIRISTAN/Khyber Agency - At least three Frontier Constabulary (FC) personnel were killed and several injured in a rocket attack here on Sunday.
Sources said militants fired rockets at FC Fort in tehsil Spinwam area of North Waziristan Agency, adding scores of rockets were fired. As a result, three Frontier Constabulary (FC) personnel were killed and several sustained serious injuries. A portion of the fort was also partially damaged several. The injured security personnel were shifted to hospital for treatment. A heavy contingent of security forces cordoned off the area after the attack and launched an operation to nab the militants.
Officials said both military and paramilitary troops were inside the well-protected fort at the time of the attack. “An unknown number of militants started firing rocket-propelled grenades from all sides.
Three FC (Frontier Corps) men embraced martyrdom when one of the rockets landed inside the fort,” an official in Peshawar said. An intelligence official confirmed the attack and the casualties. A spokesman for the Ansar-ul-Mujahideen militant group which is based in the tribal districts but not affiliated with the Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.
“We claim responsibility for this attack. This was to avenge the military operation in North Waziristan,” he said. “We carried out many such attacks on the Pakistan military, but the media is not reporting them,” he said.
FC MOSQUE PRAYER LEADER
GUNNED DOWN
A local resident was shot dead by unidentified armed men on Sunday here at Regi Lalma area of Jamrud, Khyber Agency, local administration and tribesmen said.
The political administration official said Qari Javed, son of Gul Marjan of Ghundi area of Jamrud, was on his way to home located in Nasir Bagh when unknown armed men opened indiscriminate firing, killing him on the spot. The deceased was performing duty as prayer leader in Frontier Corps (FC) Mosque in Hayatabad.
The miscreants made their escape good after the incident, sources said. Later on the deceased was buried at his ancestral graveyard situated in Pamp House Ghundi.
Meanwhile, at least 15 suspects were apprehended in search operation conducted by paramilitary forces at Shagai area of Jamrud on Sunday. The search operation was initiated in response to the attacks on security forces in Shagai area that took place on Saturday, sources said. Sources confirmed that 15 local suspects were held in the operation and they were shifted to undisclosed location for further interrogation.