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KHYBER: Security was placed on high alert in most parts of the Bara tehsil here on Tuesday after an improvised explosive device fitted in a motorcycle went off in Mandi Kas area.
However, no damage to public life or property was reported.
Local sources said the explosion was reported moments after a security convoy passed through the area.
They said that law-enforcement personnel had intensified patrolling in parts of Bara as security forces killed at least 10 TTP militants in two separate quadcopter strikes following a brief seizure of a government school in Akkakhel area on Monday.
Sources said that security forces were also seen moving artillery to undisclosed locations, while residents were stopped and searched at various points.
Also, Akkakhel residents claimed that around120 families from Zulikhel, Mirkhankhel and Sultankhel villages had abandoned homes due to the presence of militants in the area, especially their pressure to shelter them and provide food at “odd times”.
They said that those families had shifted to safer places in other parts of Bara.
The residents said that the killing of 10 terrorists and a Tirah peace committee member had led to the relocation of terrified families.
They said that the terrorists affiliated with TTP and Lashkar-i-Islam wanted to use the local population as a human shield during security operations.
The residents also feared collateral damage during the targeted operations.
People in parts of Akkakhel said that both TTP and LI had established bases in the area prior to the displacement of over 30,000 families from Tirah in December and January.
They said the main base of the two banned groups stood in Zrrandu Kali with scores of heavily armed militants holed up there since its establishment around 10 months ago.
Meanwhile, students and parents of Gul Zameer Kali High School in Akkakhel have demanded the shifting of the centre for their matriculation examination to a safer place after the brief campus seizure by militants on Monday.
Published in Dawn, April 1st, 2026
