PESHAWAR, May 8: Three people were injured when an explosive device went off outside the residence of Minister for Agriculture Arbab Ayub Jan here in Tarnab farm area on Sunday with police saying that the bomb was planted to harm the minister.

The Chamkani police said that the injured also included a close relative of the minister, who was identified as Arbab Inam and his two friends Arshad and Shakeel.

They said that the three friends were coming out of the minister's residence in a car, which had the same silver colour and model as that of the minister's car, when the blast took place. Their Toyota car was also badly damaged in the subversive act.

“The remote-controlled bomb weighing around 3 kg was planted outside the residence of the minister,” an official of the Chamkani police told Dawn .

He said that the miscreants might have believed that minister was sitting in the car and as it came out from his residence they detonated the device. The injured were taken to the Lady Reading Hospital where doctors termed their condition stable.

Arbab Ayub Jan is very popular in his constituency and many people daily come to meet him at his hujra (guesthouse).

In a statement, District Coordination Officer (DCO) Siraj Ahmed directed the Peshawar police to install walkthrough gate at the main entry point of the residence of the agriculture minister and boost security in the area.

KALAYA: Four suspected terrorists were killed when two groups of militants clashed in Mamuzai area of upper Orakzai Agency on Sunday.

The cause of the fighting could not be ascertained, the sources said and added that the clash in Mir Qalamkhel locality of Mamuzai area left Sheikh Afzal and three other unidentified militants dead.

They said that both the groups used heavy weapons to target each others' positions and due to panic the local traders closed their shops. A jirga convened by political tehsildar of upper tehsil was also postponed after the clash.

Meanwhile, a tribal jirga, which was held in the agency headquarters Kalaya, discussed the military operation and difficulties being faced by the tribesmen.

Speaking at the jirga, Kohat commissioner Khalid Khan Umerzai said that peace had been restored in Hangu and Orakzai Agency with the cooperation and support of local elders. He said that sectarian tension in Hangu and Orakzai was defused and roads in Shia and Sunni areas had been opened. He said that local elders should shun rivalries and focus on peace and security in the area.

Political Agent Riaz Khan Mehsud also spoke on the occasion.

LAKKI MARWAT: Police have foiled a terror bid by defusing a homemade bomb near Dallokhel here on Saturday night.

After a tip-off about suspected material in the fields near Dallokhel village a contingent of Lakki police station reached the place and found the improvised explosive device under the bushes. A police official said that the personnel of bomb disposal squad were called who defused the device.