UPPER DIR: A security forces’ vehicle was targeted with a remote-controlled bomb in Surbat area of Upper Dir on Monday. However, no casualty was reported in the incident.

The blast took place when the army vehicle was on its way to Dir town from Barawal, a main town on the Pak-Afghan border.

Police sources said the bomb couldn’t cause death and destruction because the vehicle was fitted with jammers. However, they said the vehicle was slightly damaged.

After the blast, the security forces imposed curfew in the area and launched search operation in which about 12 suspected people were rounded up.

The blast occurred on the road that leads to the Pak-Afghan border region in an area that is situated some 15kms off Dir town.

The border areas in Upper Dir have been volatile for the last three years with Pakistani Taliban hiding in Kunar province of Afghanistan launching several cross-border deadly attacks, killing scores of security officials and villagers in Upper Dir. Militants had killed General Officer Commanding Maj-Gen Sanaullah Niazi in a remote-controlled bomb attack in the border region in September, last year.

The border has been manned by Pak Army soldiers since September 2011.

Published in Dawn, August 5th, 2014