PESHAWAR, July 21: A would-be suicide bomber was killed in Bazidkhel village here on Thursday when he attacked the heads of two local peace bodies, sources said.

They said that leaders of the peace bodies narrowly escaped when the bomber hurled a hand grenade and fired at them. The bomber was killed in retaliatory firing by the volunteers of peace bodies, they added.

The head of Bazid Khel Qaumi Lashkar, Fahimur Rehman, and Adezai Qaumi Lashkar chief Dilawar Khan along with several other elders of the area were leaving a hujra after resolving a local dispute when the would-be suicide bomber attacked them.

“As we were coming out of the hujra, the militant entered through a window. He hurled a hand grenade and also fired at us with a pistol. People remained unhurt as there was enough distance between the attacker and us,” Mr Rehman said.

He said that his bodyguards opened firing on the bomber in retaliation. “He fell down and tried to detonate his suicide vest but failed to do so,” he added. Mr Rehman said that the attacker died on the spot as he received several bullet injuries.

Dilawar Khan, the head of other peace body, said that the bomber was a young man of about 22 with a light beard. He tried to kill the volunteers of the peace bodies but failed to detonate his suicide jacket, he added.

“We had been in Bazidkhel village for the last three days to resolve a dispute,” he said.

Mr Khan said that Taliban and Khyber Agency-based militant organisation Lashkar-i-Islam were responsible for the attack. He said that two other accomplices of the bomber escaped on a motorcycle. “Our volunteers are trying to capture them,” he added.He said that there was no prior information about the attack otherwise volunteers would have captured the other two militants. “We will continue our efforts against militants at any cost. The terrorists can't scare us with such cowardly acts,” he said.

An official of the Bomb Disposal Unit said that the suicide vest tied around the bomber's chest weighed about 10 kilograms. The suicide vest was defused successfully, he said.

Meanwhile, a policeman was killed and his two colleagues, including a lady constable, sustained bullet injuries during a raid at the residence of alleged proclaimed offenders at Ghazali Garhi in the limits of Regi police station on Thursday.

An official of the police station said that they raided the residence of proclaimed offenders Abdullah, Mumtaz, Mujahid, Nek Mohammad and Khan Mohammad but they opened firing on the raiding party.

A policeman and an accused identified as Amal Khan were killed and two police constables, Khan Alam and Ms Safia, were injured in the encounter, he added.

The injured constables were shifted to Lady Reading Hospital for treatment.

The funeral prayers for the killed policeman were offered at Malik Saad Police Lines.