LANDI KOTAL, March 7: At least five members of a family, including a child, were killed and another was critically injured when some people attacked a house in the Lalakhel area in Jamrud here on Sunday.

Eyewitnesses told Dawn by telephone that more than a dozen armed men barged into the house of one Sheikh Sadiq and killed Zulfiqar, Sattar, Riaz, Mohammad Ayaz and Akhtar Mohammad, all close relatives of Sheikh Sadiq.

The witnesses said that the two families had a property dispute. Family members of Sheikh Sadiq, who is in Dera Ismail Khan jail on charges of kidnapping and robbery, had fired on the family members of one Rahat Gul on Friday when they were constructing a house adjacent to Sheikh Sadiq's residence.

In retaliation, Rahat Gul's men Sheikh Sadiq's house and killed five members of his family. They also occupied the residence of Sheikh Sadiq and forced the women to vacate the house.

Soon after the incident, the women members of Sheikh Sadiq's family blocked the Jamrud-Torkhum road and also smashed windscreens of some vehicles. The Jamrud political administration surrounded the house and asked the occupants to lay down arms and hand over the bodies to the relatives. The main Jamrud-Torkham road remained closed till late in the evening.