LANDI KOTAL, 27: A property dispute claimed three lives in Landi Kotal tehsil of Khyber Agency while death toll in last Friday's suicide attack on a mosque in Jamrud reached 53.

Sources said that Fazal Akbar, Haji Taj and Zullah were killed on the spot when two rival groups exchanged fire in Nikikhel area of Landi Kotal minutes before Iftar on Friday.

Reason behind the armed clash was stated to be an old dispute over ownership of a piece of land.

Officials in Jamrud said that the death toll in last Friday suicide attack on a mosque reached 53 as one of the seriously injured persons, Said Gul, breathed his last at Khyber Teaching Hospital in Peshawar on Friday.

Meanwhile, strict security measures were taken at the mosques in Jamrud and Landi Kotal during Friday prayers.

Jamrud Assistant Political Agent Khalid Mumtaz Kundi said that Khasadar Force was deployed at mosques situated at markets while local tribal peace committees performed security duties in rural areas.

The residents of jamrud said that attendance at the mosques was thin after last Friday suicide attack on Al-Madina Mosque in Madokhel-Kukikhel area.

MINERS: The four coalminers, kidnapped from Darra Adamkhel, were handed over to their relatives by Kukikhel elders in Jamrud on Friday.

Taimor Khan, Bakhtzada, Rahimullah and Fazal Haq were in protective custody of Kukikhel tribesmen in Tirah valley after they were rescued from a private jail of Taliban few days ago.

Moving scenes were witnessed when the four coalminers from Shangla district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa reunited with their family members in a private house in Jamrud after Friday prayers.

A Kukikhel elder earlier told Dawn that the rescued miners were brought to Jamrud via Torkham border after they crossed over to Afghanistan as security situation on Tirah-Ali Masjid route was not satisfactory.

The four miners remained in captivity of Taliban after 12 of their colleagues were set free by their captors when Darra Adamkhel political administration struck a secret deal with militants to secure their release.

It was, however, not clear as to why these four miners remained with Taliban.

The Kukihel tribal lashkar claimed to have secured their release after expelling Taliban from one of their bases in Ttirah valley where these miners were kept.