SOUTH WAZIRISTAN: Three civilian members of Sulemankhel tribe were killed and five injured when a mortar shell hit a house in the Zarmilan area of Toi Khulla tehsil here on Thursday.

Residents said the injured, including women and children, were being treated at the district headquarters hospital in Wana.

The incident occurred in Kot Ghabarg village of Zarmilan area, where a mortar shell fired from an unidentified direction hit a house, causing casualties in a family. The injured were shifted to the DHQ hospital in Wana.

Police sources confirmed the incident and said that intense fighting was underway between security forces and banned terrorist outfit Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in the area when the mortar shell struck the house.

Meanwhile, some local sources claimed that the casualties occurred during an exchange of crossfire between security forces and TTP militants. According to these sources, the fighting involved intense firing, during which a mortar shell hit the house, killing four people and injuring five.

The claim regarding crossfire and the circumstances in which the shell struck the house could not be independently verified.

According to a report shared by police sources, the injured were identified as Najeebullah, Usman, Sumaira, Sahara and Bakhmala Bibi, who were shifted to the DHQ hospital in Wana for treatment.

The report identified three of the deceased as Noor Ali, Hazrat Khan and Haji Mehmood and said that the deceased and the injured belonged to the Sulemankhel tribe.

It said that the affected family lived in Kot Ghabarg village. The incident caused concern among residents, while members of the Sulemankhel tribe expressed grief over the loss of civilian lives.

Dawn repeatedly reached out to Lower South Waziristan deputy commissioner Musarrat Zaman and district police officer Shah Hasan over the phone for comments on the incident. However, no one responded.

Lower South Waziristan has witnessed several incidents involving mortar shell attacks in the past, with local sources frequently reporting civilian deaths and injuries. However, some of these incidents could not be independently verified.

The latest incident has again raised concerns about the safety of civilians in areas affected by armed clashes. The circumstances surrounding the mortar shelling have sparked serious concern among residents about the threats posed to civilian lives amid the ongoing fighting.

Published in Dawn, October 16th, 2026