MARDAN, Nov 22: A policeman and a passerby were killed and seven others injured in a blast outside a higher secondary school for girls in Shah Dhand Baba area here on Tuesday.
DSP Abdus Samad Khan told Dawn that the school watchman, Hizar Hayat Khan, called Par Hoti police early in the morning to inform them that a suspicious plastic bag was lying outside the main entrance of the educational institution.
He said that four policemen of anti-terrorism squad were sent to the spot. The policemen blocked the road after they found a bomb in the plastic bag. They successfully defused the bomb, he added.
The DSP said that another remote controlled bomb that was planted near the main entrance and covered with dirt and stones exploded soon after the policemen defused the first bomb.
Mr Khan said that constable Allah Nawaz was killed on the spot while three policemen and five locals received multiple wounds in the blast. They were shifted to district headquarters hospital, where an injured identified as 20-year-old Tahir succumbed to his injuries.
The injured constables were identified as Ali Bahadar, Atif and Murad, while the locals included Salman, Fayaz, Turab Ali and watchman Hizar Hayat.
In Kurram Agency, a bridge on Thall-Parachinar Road was damaged badly when a bomb planted under the structure exploded on Tuesday morning.
Officials said that the blast caused suspension of traffic on the road. The political authorities and security forces reached the spot soon after the incident and cordoned off the area. The officials restored the flow of traffic after some time.
In Orakzai Agency, six CD shops were destroyed when explosives planted by unidentified militants went off in Ferozekhel area on the night between Monday and Tuesday.
The political administration arrested four watchmen of the main bazaar of Ferozekhel after the incident. Twenty one members of Bezotkhel tribe were also taken into custody under the territorial responsibility clause of Frontier Crimes Regulation. The authorities also seized a double-cabin pick-up vehicle of the tribesmen.
In Bajaur Agency, Taliban commander Waliur Rehman alias Rehan and his 40 accomplices laid down arms and surrendered to security forces unconditionally.
Sources said that Waliur Rehman had played a key role in attacks on security forces in various parts of Bajaur Agency from 2008 till 2010. The security forces had destroyed his two houses and some of his relatives were killed in clashes.
He had shot to prominence after killing two Afghans, who were accused of spying for American forces after the 2008 drone strike in Mamond tehsil of Bajaur, in the presence of thousands of tribesmen.
