KHYBER/KYBER AGENCIES - At least 10 suspected militants were killed and a soldier embraced martyrdom as security forces clashed with militants in Khyber and Orakzai agencies on Sunday.
A civilian was also killed in clashes and a dozen others sustained injuries.
In Khyber Agency, at least five militants were killed and six others sustained injuries while a soldier embraced martyrdom in fresh clashes in Aka Khel area of tehsil Bara, officials said Sunday.
Sources in the armed forces said the troops, on the 18th day of the on-going Khyber One Operation, confronted with militants and inflicted heavy human losses on them. Six militants and a soldier were also wounded in the clashes, sources said. All the killed and injured militants were stated to be activists of defunct Lashkar-e- Islam (LI). However the spokesman of LI denied there were casualties.
Separately, a mother with her two children was killed when a stray mortar shell hit a house in the wee hours on Sunday here in Aka Khel, Bara tehsil of Khyber Agency, local sources said.
Local tribesmen said family of Din Mohammad was sleeping in their house when a shell landed at his house killing his two children and wife on the spot. Four other family members received wounds, they said.
Soon after the incident, locals rushed to the scene and retrieved the bodies and injured from the debris. The wounded were shifted to Peshawar hospital for medical aid.
It is to be mentioned here that dozens of local tribesmen of Bara including children have lost their lives due to stray mortar shells hitting them in Bara.
Meanwhile in Orakzai Agency, five militants were killed and a civilian lost his life when security forces hit terrorist hideouts on mountains with artillery after a rocket attack in Kalaya on Sunday, officials said.
According to details, militants fired at least 10 rockets from Sherin Dara mountains on Kalaya headquarters of Orakzai Agency, one of them landed at a security checkpost.
Resultantly, a civilian identified as Dena Gul, a resident of Ferozkehl, was killed while four Levies personnel Hawaldar Sohail Khan, Khushdal Khan, Anwar Khan and Mohammad Habib sustained injuries.
The injured were rushed to Kalaya Headquarters Hospital. After the incident, security forces hit militant hideouts on the mountains in Sherin Dara and Khwa Dara with artillery. Security sources said that at least five militants were killed and four of their hideouts were destroyed completely.
The rocket attacks on Kalaya, Ibrahimzai and Kalat, Sarobi Gharai, Kara Bazaar has sent a panic wave among locals, who have asked government to take more security steps to protect people’s lives.
To avoid any untoward incident during Muharram, government has suspended v-phone service in Ferozkhel, Anjabi and Kalaya localities.