At least two persons including a peace committee member and tribal elder were killed and his two sons injured in a road side bomb explosion in Golo Shah area of Khar tehsil in Bajaur Agency here on Tuesday. According to official sources, the remote control bomb exploded when Malik Muhammad Younis, a prominent elder of the Salarzai tribe, was travelling in a vehicle with his two sons in Gulloshah village near Khar, the main town in Bajaur district where Taliban militants have been active.
Malik Muhammad Younis was killed and his two sons were wounded after a bomb planted on a roadside exploded as their vehicle passed," tribal administration official Saaz Muhammad said. Security forces have cordoned off the area and started search operation to arrest the culprits involved in the attack. He said nobody immediately claimed responsibility. Taliban militants have carried out several bomb attacks against tribal elders who have raised and supported vigilantes against them.
Intelligence officials confirmed the attack and death, and said Younis supported the government's offensive against Taliban militants and had been active in organising tribes to combat the insurgents. Bajaur is one of seven semi-autonomous tribal districts along Pakistan s mountainous western border which became a hotbed of militants following the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.