Suicide attack on children playing football in Kurram foiled

SADDA: Two persons were killed and two others sustained injuries when two suicide bombers on Wednesday blew themselves up near the ground of the Government High School, Alizai, in the Lower Kurram Agency where a football match was in progress, officials said.
“Two suicide bombers were trying to enter the playground of the school in Alizai town of Lower Kurram. Luckily, the locals suspected foulplay and stopped them from entering the ground,” one security official said.
Assistant Political Agent, Lower Kurram, Fazal Qadir, said the paramilitary Kurram Levies immediately arrived on the spot and opened fire at them. “One of them died on the spot and the second was injured,” he said.
He said one health worker tried to overpower the injured suicide bomber but he blew himself up, killing the health worker and injuring three other people.
Fazal Qadir said there were reports of possible terrorist incidents and that’s why they had made better security arrangements for the match.“The final of the football match was going on and a large number of people were present there to watch the game. There would have been more casualties had they entered the ground,” he said.Local residents said they had been informed about the possible terror acts, were alert and had spotted the suicide bombers.
Agencies add: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif strongly condemned the terrorist attack in Kurram Agency.In a statement, the prime minister said the entire nation was united against terrorism and such attacks cannot weaken the country’s resolve against it. Nawaz said the fight against terrorism and militancy will continue till the complete elimination of terrorists and their abettors. He asked the law enforcement agencies to beef up security to avoid recurrence of such instances in future.
Meanwhile, Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif has lauded the vigilance of the Levies force and crowd in Kurram Agency, which avoided a huge disaster. “We, the whole nation, are resolute not only to deny any space to these misguided terrorists but also eliminate them fully,” DG ISPR Major General Asim Bajwa said in a tweet on social media.