LANDI KOTAL/KHAR, May 27: At least 10 people, including five children and a woman, were wounded when stray artillery shells fell in three different localities of Bara tehsil of Khyber Agency on Sunday, while miscreants blew up a high voltage power transmission line in Bajaur Agency disrupting electricity to the entire region.

Sources said that an artillery shell hit a house in Swati Maqbara locality of Shalobar area early in the morning, which resulted in critical injuries to wife of one Aqal Khan, while three of his children suffered minor wounds. The injured were later taken to a hospital in Peshawar.

In the second incident which took place in Arjali Nadi area of Shalobar, father and uncle of one Gul Wali, principal of a private school, were injured when an a stray shell hit their house.

They said that a third mortar shell fell on the house of late Maj (retired) Noorullah in Jansi camp area of Sipah, which left two minor children and a woman wounded. Relation of the injured with the late officer could not be ascertained.

Meanwhile, Bara Khidmat-i-Khalq Committee expressed its serious concern over the indiscriminate artillery firing by security forces in Shalobar, Sipah and Malikdinkhel areas.

Turab Ali, a KKC office-bearer, told Dawn by phone that residents were facing a lot of difficulties in shifting their injured to hospitals due to closure of roads linking Bara with Peshawar, as security forces had also imposed curfew in most of these areas. Security forces had a few days ago sealed the Sam Baba-Qambarkhel road, thus causing hardships to residents of Shalobar, Malikdinkhel and Sipah areas.

The road closure has also caused food shortage, as forces were not allowing supplies to enter these areas where a military operation was in progress.

Mr Ali said that power supply to the areas also remained disconnected from last one week, which had been resulting in acute shortage of drinking water.

The KKC has appealed to the political administration and security officials to take utmost care to avoid civilian casualties in Bara and ease curfew restrictions in Shalobar and Sipah areas to enable people to shift to safer places.

Our correspondent reported from Khar that unidentified miscreants blew up a high power transmission line in Yusufabad area of Bajaur Agency on the night between Saturday and Sunday, disrupting electricity supply to the entire region.

Officials said that a group of armed men had planted explosives to the tower of 66 KV high transmission line near Yusufabad and blew it up.

The tower was situated close to a levies checkpost.

Residents said that electricity was instantly suspended in the whole agency. Soon after the blast heavy firing was heard from the levies post, but the miscreants escaped, a resident Naik Amal Khan told Dawn.

When contacted, an official of Tribal Electric Supply Company said that the transmission line was completely damaged and power supply to Bajaur Agency would remain suspended for next two days.