PESHAWAR: Four security personnel including an army captain embraced martyrdom and three others were injured in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast near Kharlachi area of Kurram Agency on Sunday.
According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the security personnel were conducting search operation to arrest the handlers involved in kidnapping of a Canadian national and his wife in Afghanistan.
The Canadian family was rescued by the security forces in Kurram Agency near Pak-Afghan border a few days back.
Soon after the explosion, security forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation. Three officials were killed instantly while four were reported injured, according to the political administration of the agency.
The bodies of the martyred officials were taken to a hospital to the agency’s headquarters, Parachinar. Later, one of the injured, Captain Hasnain, succumbed to his injuries.
The other martyred are Sepoy Saeed Baz, Sepoy Qadir and Sepoy Jumma Gul. Those wounded are Naik Anwar, Sepoy Zahir and Lance Naik Sher Afzal, who were shifted to agency headquarters hospital in Parachinar. The funeral prayers of the martyred were offered at the FC Ground in Parachinar.
Sources said following the incident, the border crossing at Kharlachi was shut down.
Kurram Agency borders three provinces of Afghanistan and witnesses several cross-border attacks.
Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has expressed condolences with families of the martyrs of the blast in Kurram Agency. He prayed for eternal peace for the departed souls and early recovery of the injured.
Published in Daily Times, October 16th 2017.