LANDI KOTAL, Nov 12: A man was killed and four children received injuries when mortar shells fell on two houses in Bara tehsil of Khyber Agency on Monday.

Local sources said that Mohammad Idrees was killed when a mortar fired from an undisclosed direction fell on his house in Sheikhan area. A portion of the house was also damaged.

They said that the deceased had recently shifted from his village in Akkakhel owing to insecurity and rented a house in Sheikhan.

Also, four children were injured when another mortar shell fell on the house of Marwat Khan in Zawah area of Akkakhel.

The injured children were shifted to Peshawar for treatment.

PROTEST: More than 30 poultry dealers in Landi Kotal and Torkham shut down their shops on Monday to protest against the attitude of Peshawar police and provincial food department.

Sabz Ali, a dealer at Landi Kotal Bazaar, said that despite having legal permission for bringing chickens from Peshawar, they were harassed by police at Hayatabad, Mathra and Karkhano Market checkpoints.

He alleged that officials of provincial food department were also not allowing them to take poultry to Landi Kotal and Torkham.

Mohammad Islam, another dealer, said that all the poultry dealers were abiding by the ban imposed on export of poultry to Afghanistan. He said that they brought chickens according to the demand of local market.

“Khyber Agency political administration issues permits keeping in view demand for poultry but Peshawar police and officials of food department do not allow us to do our legal business,” Mr Islam said.

The poultry dealers shut down their shops after a meeting with the local administration during which they apprised the authorities about their grievances. Sabz Ali said that the strike would continue till their grievances were redressed.

The closure of poultry shops caused a sharp increase in the prices of chickens. Many customers were compelled to bring chickens from Peshawar.