Police kill two militants, including suicide bomber, in Lakki Marwat
One wounded militant escaped the exchange of fire at Gandi Chowk in Sarai Naurang tehsil, and a search operation is under way, police say.
Police in Lakki Marwat killed two militants, one of them a suspected suicide bomber, in an exchange of fire at Gandi Chowk on Wednesday and said the encounter stopped a planned attack. A third militant was wounded and escaped, and officers are searching the area for him.
A police spokesperson said the force had received word of a suspicious car with tinted windows in Gandi Chowk, in Sarai Naurang tehsil, and sent a large contingent to the spot. The men inside tried to drive off when they saw the police and opened fire on the officers, the spokesperson said.
Police returned fire and killed two of the vehicle's occupants. The Associated Press of Pakistan reported that the dead included a suicide bomber and that police described the operation as foiling a major terrorist attack.
ARY News reported that police identified the two as members of the banned group Fitna al-Khawarij. The spokesperson said weapons, a flag of a banned organisation, women's burqas and other prohibited items were found on the bodies, according to ARY News.
The wounded militant got away. The spokesperson said a search operation was under way to track him down, ARY News reported, and no arrest had been announced by Wednesday evening.
Lakki Marwat has seen repeated attacks this year. In June, at least two civilians, one of them a two-year-old child, were killed and 10 other people were injured when a motorcycle-borne suicide attacker blew up near a mosque in the Khairokhel Pakka area, police said. Members of a local peace committee opened fire on the man as he tried to reach the mosque during Friday prayers, and the firing set off the explosives he was carrying, according to the police account. The attacker was killed in the blast.
How the reports differ
ARY News named the banned group Fitna al-Khawarij as the one the two dead belonged to, and reported that a wounded militant escaped and that weapons, a flag and women's burqas were recovered from the bodies. The Associated Press of Pakistan's account as supplied to subscribers did not name the group and ended mid-sentence. It quoted police describing the encounter as foiling a major terrorist attack, a characterisation ARY News did not carry.
Pakistan warns Kabul as border firefight shuts Torkham for five hours
A military spokesman said the Afghan Taliban cannot bear the cost of harbouring terrorists and named India as the prime contractor behind attacks in Pakistan.
Civil-military meeting agrees to widen Khyber Pakhtunkhwa operations
Prime minister chairs session with Field Marshal Asim Munir and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari as the province stays under governor's rule
DG ISPR calls India biggest sponsor of terrorism in Pakistan
Two outlets carried the remark with near-identical wording, but neither named the officer, the venue or the occasion, and no full text was published.
PM defends governor's rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
UrduPoint quoted the prime minister saying a delayed decision would have caused further damage, and that the government waited for approval of a draft agreed in negotiations.
Seminary teacher arrested over boy's death in Bajaur
Police say the 12-year-old was beaten inside a madressah in Qazafi Bandagi, Utmankhel tehsil, and the suspect was held after the Malakand RPO ordered his arrest.
KP governor's adviser accuses Fazlur Rehman of fraud over Mufti Mahmood Centre
Samar Haroon Bilour says Libyan money built the Peshawar Ring Road complex while ownership records list the property under the JUI-F chief's own name.
Gunmen kill two policemen bound for polio duty in Mohmand
A third constable was wounded in the firing near the Hashim Kor checkpost in Pindiali tehsil, and police say a search operation is under way for the attackers.
Sugar mill tells KP governor fertiliser curbs hit Rabi sowing
Chashma Sugar Mills says an interior ministry SRO stops fertiliser companies despatching supplies to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan as autumn and Rabi sowing proceeds.