MINGORA / KHAR: Three children and two members of a defunct peace committee were killed in two blasts on Wednesday.

According to local residents, three children died and two others sustained injuries when an old mortar shell buried in a field blew up at Nelagram village in Matta tehsil of the Swat Valley.

They said the children, who belonged to the same family, went to work in the fields early in the morning. When one of them hit the land with a hoe the mortar shell exploded, said Faridullah, uncle of the children.

Sudais, 4, Mohammad Umar, 9, and Anees, 8, were killed on the spot, while Nizam, 9, and Hussain, 10, suffered injuries. They were taken to Saidu Group of Teaching Hospital.

The police reached the site and started investigation.

The villagers called upon the government and law enforcement agencies to clear the area of explosives.

In Bajaur tribal district, Amanullah and Gul Badeen were killed in a roadside explosion in the Chinar Charmang area near the Pak-Afghan border.

The deceased, who were said to be members of a dormant peace committee, were going home from a bazaar by car when the remote-controlled bomb placed along the road went off. Both were wounded and died on way to the district headquarters hospital in Khar.

The car was destroyed in the incident.

No one claimed responsibility for the blast.

Published in Dawn, November 23rd, 2018