KOHAT/NOWSHERA, July 10: The bodies of five tribal volunteers, killed by militants in Frontier Region of Kohat, have been recovered and shifted to a local basic health unit for identification.

At least five volunteers of a tribal lashkar were killed when militants attacked their patrolling vehicles in Paya area of Jawaki in FR Kohat on Saturday night.

Officials said that three tribesmen were also injured in the attack. However, eyewitnesses did not confirm the report.

An elder of the area told Dawn that the bodies of volunteers had been shifted to basic health unit of Paya. He said that three of the killed volunteers had been identified.

“One of them is Noor Farooq, a resident of Paya. He was a teacher at a school in Turkey Ismail Khel area. The other is Younas of Togh Bala village of Kohat. I forgot the name of third one,” he said.

The identification of the remaining two deceased was taking so long because tribal volunteers belonged to different areas, he added.

The government officials and journalists were facing difficulties in getting confirmed information about the incident owing to absence of security forces in the turbulent area.

Azmaray, a volunteer of the tribal lashkar, told Dawn that they were patrolling the area as per routine to check movement of militants when their vehicles were sprayed with bullets near a dry stream in Paya by heavily armed men.

The official in the assistant political agent's control room, when contacted, said that a team with naib tehsildar as its head had been sent to the area to collect facts and start rescue efforts. “We will be in a good position when the team arrives back because signals of cellular phones are very weak there,” he added.

He said that five tribesmen were killed and three others injured in the attack. The lashkar volunteers said that they besieged the attackers and traded fire with them. The car and Toyota pick-up were going to Paya in the semi-autonomous area from Kohat when they were ambushed by militants, they added.

Usually people avoid travelling in the area at night owing to security reasons.

Meanwhile, police claimed to have arrested a member of Darra Taliban and recovered explosives from his possession in Nowshera on Sunday.

They said that Saeedullah, a resident of Darra Adamkhel, was arrested at Jaroba police post in Pabbi when he was entering the district from the tribal area on a motorbike.

Police said the suspect was carrying 24 kilograms of explosives on his motorbike.