LANDI KOTAL: An activist of a pro-government armed group and a would-be suicide attacker were killed in the Bazaar Zakhakhel area of Khyber tribal region late on Saturday night.

A spokesman for the group, Hakim Khan, told reporters that the target of the suicide attack was one of their leaders, Bilal Afridi. He said Mr Afridi was in the hujra (guest house) of Said Jamal in the Kharko Sarhgi area when a man reached there and insi­sted on going inside the mud compound. He was intercep­ted by a guard of Mr Afridi’s.

“The suicide jacket that the unidentified man wore exploded when the guard Umar Khan fired at the attacker, killing him on the spot. The guard also lost his life in the blast,” the spokesman said.

Local authorities sent a khasadar party to carry out an investigation into the incident.

Published in Dawn, April 18th, 2016