LANDI KOTAL, Oct 6: Four militants, including a commander, were killed in two different incidents in Khyber tribal region on Thursday, sources said.

Security forces claimed in a statement that Lashkar-i-Islam commander Wahid Afridi and his bodyguard Abid were killed while two other militants were injured during a search operation in Shalobar area of Bara.

They said that the operation was launched after militants attacked a security checkpost near Al-Haaj Market. “Wahid and his bodyguard were killed during the shootout,” they claimed.

However, independent sources refuted the official claim and said that Wahid and his bodyguard were trying to reach a safer place after the attack but they were chased by two masked motorcyclists.

The motorcyclists sprayed them with bullets and managed to escape, they added. They said that Wahid was in hiding since he parted ways with Mangal Bagh-led Lashkar-i-Islam early this year. Before his desertion, he was considered a confidant of Mangal Bagh.

Sources said that Wahid was involved in the killing and kidnapping of a number of Lashkar-i-Islam opponents in Khyber Agency.

He developed differences with Mangal Bagh when Lashkar-i-Islam kidnapped and later killed a cleric of Bazaar Zakhakhel area in March this year.

In another incident, two suspected militants were killed in a clash with volunteers of a local peace committee in Akkakhel area on Wednesday night.

In Landi Kotal, a security man was injured critically when he was trying to defuse an explosive device. He was shifted to CMH in Peshawar for treatment.

In Kohat, the office of a foreign NGO was partially damaged and its watchman was injured in a bomb blasts in Muslimabad area on Wednesday night.

Sources said that militants planted several bombs at the office of Handicap International. The bombs exploded around 2am and destroyed the furniture, boundary wall, windowpanes and doors of the office. The watchman, Jameel, sustained injuries in the incident.

He was taken to KDA hospital for treatment. In Kurram Agency, an Afghan national was killed and another injured when armed persons attacked a car on Thursday.

The vehicle was going to Afghanistan and armed persons opened firing on it when it reached near Talo Kunj village. The driver of the car was killed on the spot while his companion received minor injuries. However, the injured person managed to escape while the attackers took away the vehicle with them.