5.10 PM Thursday, 28 March 2024
  • City Fajr Shuruq Duhr Asr Magrib Isha
  • Dubai 04:57 06:11 12:27 15:53 18:37 19:51
28 March 2024

Six dead as Pakistani forces destroy militant house

Published
By AFP

Pakistani forces destroyed a house belonging to the head of an Islamic militant group in Pakistan's Khyber district on Monday, killing at least six people, residents and an official said.

An AFP photographer saw six coffins lined up outside the rubble of the building in Par Qambarkhel area of the tribal district, where Pakistani forces launched a major operation on Saturday.

The house belonged to Haji Namdar, the chief of a hardline organisation campaigning for Taliban-style Islamic law in the region, a spokesman for Namdar's group said.

Residents said there was a loud explosion early in the morning that destroyed the house.

A senior security official confirmed that the house was destroyed, saying: "It was part of the ongoing operation. Our ground forces were involved." The official did not give any further details.

"I heard a loud noise and there was a blast. It caused the destruction of the house," local resident Mujahid Khan told AFP at the scene, near Bara, the main town in Khyber.

Namdar himself said the explosion appeared to be a missile strike and said he suspected the involvement of NATO troops across the border in Afghanistan, but did not provide any evidence to back the claim.

"It looked like a guided missile strike. It could have been the work of both Pakistani and NATO forces. We will take revenge," Namdar told AFP at the scene.

Pakistani troops destroyed the house of another Islamist leader, Mangal Bagh, on Saturday in Bara, and demolished the headquarters of a separate Islamist group early on Sunday.