Two soldiers killed in Mohmand Agency blast

GHALLANAI: Two soldiers were killed in an explosion caused by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in the Mohmand Agency, official sources said on Tuesday.

The sources said that the soldiers were returning to a camp of security forces after performing duty at a border post when they were targeted with an IED in the Atmarkhel area in Baizai Tehsil. “Both the soldiers died on the spot,” an official said.

The driver of a construction company sustained injuries when an explosive device planted by terrorists near the Lottery Post in the Karappa area in Pandyalai Tehsil went off. They said the vehicle was partially damaged in the blast.

Security forces started a search operation soon after the blasts in a bid to apprehend the attackers. However, there were no reports of any arrest by the security forces till the filing of the report.

Jamaatul Ahrar, the breakaway faction of the proscribed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), claimed responsibility for the attacks. Its leader Omar Khalid Khurasani and members are mostly based in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province bordering the Mohmand Agency.

Meanwhile, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Iqbal Zafar Jhagra condemned the blasts in Mohmand Agency and expressed his deep shock and sorrow over the loss of precious lives.In a statement, the governor expressed sympathies with the members of the bereaved families and injured and termed the bomb blasts a cowardly act of terror.

“Our security forces have rendered great sacrifices for the peace of entire nation and in the war against terrorism,’ he said, adding that whole the nation held these sacrifices in high esteem.The governor said such terrorist attacks could not deter the national resolve to eliminate the militancy and menace of terrorism.