LANDI KOTAL, Oct 18: At least three persons, including a minor boy, were killed when mortar shells fired by unidentified people hit four houses in Bara tehsil of Khyber Agency on Tuesday.

Local sources said that a retired subedar of Khasadar Force, Saleh Shah, was killed when a mortar shell hit his house in Najeeb Kallay area of Mandi Kas in Shalobar.In two other similar incidents in the same locality, a local tribesman Khiyal Jan and an Afghan minor boy lost their lives. Officials said that the mortar shells were fired by militants from the nearby hilltops.

The official version was, however, disputed by locals who accused security forces of indiscriminate artillery shelling on the suspected militant positions in different parts of Bara.

Sources in Akkakhel said that two tribal women, wife of Zar Wali and wife of Hayat Khan, sustained injuries when another mortar shell fell on the house of Zar Wali in Kalanga-Meri Khel area on Tuesday.

In Landi Kotal, a mosque adjacent to the house of MNA Noorul Haq Qadri was hit by a rocket fired by unidentified persons from a nearby hilltop.

Officials said that the rocket attack caused partial damage to the outer wall and main gate of the mosque. No body was hurt in the attack.

Khasadar officials said that they defused another rocket, lying at the same place from where the first one was fired.

The family of Noorul Haq Qadri had shifted to Islamabad few years ago when four of his relatives were killed by unidentified assailants in Jamrud.

Meanwhile, three security men were injured by a suspected militant a cleanup operation in Meeran Talab area of Akkakhel in Bara tehsil of Khyber Agency on Tuesday.

Officials said that they demolished at least five houses of local militant commanders in the area where they had clashed with militants on Monday. Those who were injured in the ambush included a subedar, a hawaldar and a naik for the Frontier Corps.

Nine soldiers lost their lives when they came under attack at Meeran Talab area on Monday. Forces claimed to have killed 15 militants in retaliatory action.

Also, in Akkakhel, a prayer leader Mulana Naseeb and two worshippers identified as Shafeeq and Salim Afridi were critically injured when a mortar shell fell on Charsiyano mosque late on Tuesday.

The injured were shifted to Khyber Teaching Hospital in Peshawar.

A portion of the mosque was also damaged in the mortar attack.

Meanwhile, Said Jamal, a resident of Shalobar, was critically injured when unidentified gunmen opened firing on him when he was going home from Qambarabad Market. He was shifted to a hospital in Peshawar in critical condition.