BAJAUR: A tribal elder and a police official were injured when a remote-controlled bomb went off on a roadside in Barang tehsil of the Bajaur tribal district on Saturday, police officials and local residents said.

They said that the incident occurred in the hilly Asil Targaoo area at about 4pm. They said that tribal elder, Malik Mohammad Yar Khan along with policeman, Hakeem Khan was on way to his home from a nearby locality when he was targeted.

Barang police station SHO Sher Bahdar told Dawn that Malik Yar accompanied by a policeman, said to be his relative and guard, were going home when the attack occurred, leaving them injured. He said both of them were taken to the District Headquarters Hospital, Khar, for treatment.

Assistant commissioner Fazal Raheem also visited the hospital to enquire after the blast victims.

Doctors said that condition of both the victims was stated to be out of danger.

No one claimed responsibility for the explosion, the second such incident to have occurred in the same locality over the past five days.

On Tuesday, an eminent tribal elder of Barng tribe, Malik Lal Said, 65, was killed in a roadside blast near his home.

Published in Dawn, February 28th, 2021