The News

10 April 1999

Four killed in police-tribesmen clash

By Ismail Khan

PESHAWAR: Paramilitary forces laid siege to a village in a hitherto de facto tribal area, 55 km to the north of Peshawar, after two policemen were killed and five others wounded in an ambush on Friday.

The day-long firing took the death toll to four, when two tribals were killed in a subsequent operation to quell armed resistance. In what appears to be an escalation in violence amid strong tribal resistance to government's efforts to merge 44 villages in district Charsadda, heavy gunfire was exchanged between the law enforcing agencies and the opposing Tarakzai tribesmen.

A security official said the two policemen had been ambushed in Khwajawas Kooruna at around 11.30 am when the police force attempted to advance further in what was hitherto a tribal area. The two policemen killed have been identified as sub-inspector Hamid Khan and constable Gul Bahadur of the Frontier Reserve Police. Five policemen, who sustained bullet wounds, were rushed to Peshawar for medical treatment.

IG Frontier Corps Maj Gen Sultan Habib, whose Mohmand Scouts are acting in aid of the civil and police administration, called out for reinforcement. Some 400 militiamen laid siege to Khwajawas Kooruna by mid-day and began house-to-house search.

The official said the militiamen also raided the house of Zahir Khan, from where the policemen had been ambushed. His house was burnt after women and children were evacuated. The official said that 52 people had been arrested so far. Large quantity of arms and ammunition had been recovered, the official informed.