Three children killed in Swat shell explosion

MINGORA: Three children were killed and two others sustained injuries when a dud mortar shell exploded in Matta tehsil in Swat district a day earlier, official sources said on Thursday.

They said the children found the dud mortar shell in the fields in Nillagram area in Matta tehsil. The shell, they said, exploded when the children started playing with it, leaving two children dead and three others seriously injured.

The injured were taken to a hospital in Matta and then to the Saidu Sharif Hospital where another child succumbed to his injuries. Soon after the incident, Superintendent of Police, Upper Swat, Ashfaq Ahmad along with Deputy Superintendent of Police Akbar Khan Shinwari and officials of Bomb Disposal Unit (BDU) reached the spot. The BDU officials diffused another shell.

Meanwhile, the police arrested 100 outlaws, including three alleged terrorists, during week-long search and strike operations in Mingora and suburban areas, an official said. Speaking at a high-powered meeting, Superintendent of Police Swat Khankhel Khan said that the police had launched a series of grand search and strike operations in Mingora and suburban areas of Rahimabad, Saidu Sharif, Kokarai, Kabal, Sangota, Kanjo, Kokarai, Banar and other areas and apprehended 100 outlaws including three terrorists.