LANDI KOTAL, Jan 29: A driver was killed and eight passengers received injuries when security forces opened firing on a vehicle in Bara tehsil of Khyber Agency on Sunday. The residents of the area said that soldiers fired at a pickup truck at a checkpoint in Alam Goder area. The driver of the vehicle was killed on the spot and eight passengers were injured in the incident, they added.

Officials said that security forces opened firing when driver did not stop the vehicle for checking.

In Frontier Region of Tank, a soldier was killed and another received fatal injuries in a landmine explosion on Sunday, officials said.

They said that security forces were conducting search operation in Kari Wam area adjacent to South Waziristan Agency when a soldier put his foot on a mine planted along the road. The soldier was killed on the spot while one of his colleagues was seriously injured in the blast. The injured was rushed to a hospital in Jandola.

In Nowshera, security agencies claimed to have arrested two militants during a search operation on Sunday.

Sources said that militants identified as Umer Afridi alias Ameer Saib and Jalal Khan alias Bahader Khan of Khyber Agency were arrested in Jalozai camp where they wanted to register themselves as internally displaced persons.

They said that both the arrested persons were wanted by police in different high profile cases of militancy. Sources said important secret documents were recovered from their possession.

Meanwhile, police have beefed security and started through checking of vehicles and pedestrians in the district, especially in the hilly area of Ziarat Kaka Sahib.

Police were trying to block entry of militants into Nowshera as security forces had launched operation in FR Kohat, sources said.