Four people were killed and 10 others were wounded in an explosion in Hasanzai Bazaar area of Lower Orakzai.
The blast was carried out through an improvised explosive device (IED) and targeted a passenger van traveling from Hangu towards Kohat.
Meanwhile Pakistan Air Force (PAF) jets pounded militant hideouts in Upper Orakzai killing at least six suspected militants while destroying three hideouts.
Orakzai is one of Pakistan’s seven semi-autonomous tribal regions in the northwest, where Pakistani Taliban and Al Qaeda-linked militants are said to have carved out strongholds.
The area was the original base of Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud before he moved to South Waziristan to take up the Taliban leadership after the death of his predecessor, Baituallah Mehsud.
Unlike the six other tribal agencies, Orakzai does not border Afghanistan. The rugged mountainous territory provides a crucial link for militants operating in other tribal regions, as it borders Khyber and Kurram on the Afghan frontier. It also borders Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and Pakistan’s main northwestern city, as well as the garrison town of Kohat.
