LANDI KOTAL (Khyber Agency), Aug 13: At least seven more people were killed and three others injured in clashes between armed supporters of Lashkar-i-Islam and Ansarul Islam in Bara and Tirah areas on Sunday.
An armed band of Lashkar-i-Islam during its routine weekly patrolling of Bara came face to face with its rivals in Qamabarabad locality near Shalobar road. The Lashkar men tried to abduct two of their opponents, which they resisted.
Exchange of fire between the groups resulted in the death of Kar Shah and his nephew Ziaur Rehman of the Ansar group and Naseer and Ahmad Khan of Lashkar-i-Islam. Names of two other dead and two injured Lashkar men could not be ascertained and the bodies were immediately removed from the scene.
Local people claimed that the area’s elders had informed the administration about the gravity of the situation after clashes between the two groups in Tirah on Friday resulted in the killing of three people and injuries to 12 others.
A Shalobar tribesmen, Shah Wali, was killed and his colleague Mohammad Rasool injured when a hand grenade exploded in a trench in the Warsak area of Tirah valley.
Meanwhile, tense calm prevailed in Tirah area after a Malikdin Khel jirga effected a ceasefire between the Lashkar-i-Islam and Ansarul Islam on Saturday.
The two groups traded heavy gunfire on Friday when they refused to remove their flags from their houses in Warsak area.
Sensing danger, local people have started migrating to safer places, mostly to Bara.
Sources in Bara said more than 50 families had shifted from Tirah to the area during the past two days.