LANDI KOTAL, Dec 30: Two bullet-riddled bodies were found in Bara tehsil of Khyber Agency while a woman was killed when a mortar shell hit a house in the same area on Sunday.

Sources said that bodies of two persons were spotted by local people in Kohi Sher Haider area on Sunday morning but they could not pick them owing to imposition of curfew in the locality. People removed the bodies from the spot when they were allowed by security forces.

The deceased identified as Ejaz and Najeebullah had gone missing few days ago. Both of them were relatives and belonged to Malikdinkhel tribe, sources said. Nobody claimed responsibility for their killing.

Scores of families vacated their houses in Kohi Sher Haider after security forces ordered them to leave the area in anticipation of a cleanup operation. In Malikdinkhel and Sipah areas, forces demolished the houses of four suspected militants on Sunday.

Meanwhile, a woman was killed and four of her siblings received injuries when a mortar shell hit the house of Bagh Wali in Dura Nehar locality of Sipah on Sunday.

Sources said that the mortar shell, fired from an unknown direction, also damaged a portion of the house. Nearly 12 residents of Bara, mostly women and children, had fallen prey to mortar attacks during the last one week. Authorities are yet to establish as to who fire the mortar shells. In Mohmand Agency and Swabi district, two improvised explosive devices were defused on Sunday.

In Swabi, traders informed police about the device that was planted at the tower of a cellular phone company. Police and bomb disposal squad reached the spot and defused the device.

The other explosive device was planted at Ghanam Shah telephone exchange in Mohmand Agency. The residents of the area informed security forces about the device. The device was defused safely.