KHAR: Three personnel of Levies Force were killed when a roadside bomb blast hit their vehicle in Salarzai tehsil in Bajaur Agency on Tuesday. Two other soldiers and an administration official suffered critical injuries.

Officials said the Levies personnel along with Political Naib Tehsildar Sahib Zada Khan were patrolling the area as part of security arrangements for the ongoing polio campaign when they came under attack in Chargoo area, 19km from here.

As a result of the explosion, Amanullah and Obidullah were killed and three Levies personnel and the Naib Tehsildar were injured. They were taken to the agency headquarters hospital in Khar where Shafiullah died.

A doctor told this correspondent that Sahib Zada Khan was later airlifted to Peshawar because of his precarious condition. The two other injured were also referred to a hospital in Peshawar.

Later, administration officials reached the area and mounted a search for the miscreants who had planted the bomb. No one has claimed responsibility for the blast so far.

“We believe that militants have carried out the attack as they are involved in such activities in different parts of the agency,” said an official.

Attacks on Levies personnel and members of pro-government peace committees have intensified in the agency after security forces launched an operation against terrorists in North Waziristan Agency in June.

Published in Dawn, November 12th, 2014