LANDI KOTAL, Dec 22: The Peshawar-Torkhum highway remained blocked in the Sultankhel area for the second day on Wednesday as the Khyber Agency political administration failed to persuade protesting tribesmen to remove the bodies of two transporters from the road.

The Sultankhel tribesmen blocked the road to protest the killing of Shah Murad and Imdad Hussain by unidentified highwaymen in Gotki, Sindh, on Nov 17, before snatching their oil tanker. So far the road blockade has caused death of two ailing Afghan women and bullet injures to a tribesman.

An Afghan woman while coming back from Afghanistan lost her life after she suffered a heart attack. Another Afghan woman, who was pregnant, died due to lack of medical care and blockade.

Also on Wednesday, Sher Khan was fired at by the protesters when he tried to sped away his vehicle. He suffered a minor injury. Meanwhile, the Political Agent of the Khyber Agency held a series of jirgas with elders of the Sultankhel tribe in a bid to convince them to lift the blockade and open the road for traffic.

Sources at the Landi Kotal tehsil office said that the tribal elders were demanding an assurance from the administration that families of the diseased be compensated and their killers arrested as soon as possible.

The road closure has caused a lot of inconvenience to the people of the area and all incoming and outgoing traffic to Afghanistan has come to a halt. The Political Agent has assured the jirga that he would take up the matter at top level for redressal of grievances of aggrieved families.

Most motorists on Wednesday diverted their vehicles to Malagori road in their bid to reach Peshawar. The protesters, however, allowed those people who were going to Peshawar on their way to Saudi Arabia to perform Haj.