KHAR: Six people, including a member of Salarzai peace committee, sustained critical wounds in a roadside blast in Salarzai tehsil of Bajaur Agency here on Thursday.

Officials said that Malik Taj Mohammad was going from his home to Khar in a vehicle along with his mother and other family members when he was targeted with a remote-controlled bomb in the far-flung area of Ghakhi, 18 kilometres from Khar.

They said that the miscreants detonated the bomb planted at a turn on the road in mountainous area of the region when the vehicle just reached there. As a result, Malik Taj, his mother and other family members, including three children, were critically wounded while his vehicle was destroyed.

After the blast, people of the nearby area and members of the peace committee reached the site and took the injured to the agency headquarters hospital in Khar. Hospital sources told Dawn that Malik Taj and three others were referred to Peshawar in critical condition.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but officials of the administration said that militants could be involved in the attack.

“We are investigating the incident, but according to our information militants are responsible for the attack as these elements have been involved in such activities in the area,” an official said.

Ajab Khan, a member of Salarzai peace committee, said that Malik Taj was a committed person who had been working for elimination of militants from the area and he was on the hit list of militants.

Published in Dawn, October 10th, 2014