Four FC personnel martyred in landmine explosion in Kurram Agency

HANGU: At least four Frontier Corps (FC) personnel, including an officer, were martyred and two others wounded in a landmine explosion in Kurram Agency on Sunday.

According to the Inter-Services Public Relations [ISPR], the IED was planted by terrorists near the Pak-Afghan border in Kharlachi.

The troops were part of the search party for handlers of Canadian-American family that was recently freed by the Pakistan Army, the military’s media wing said in a statement.

The army on Thursday had rescued an American woman and her Canadian husband along with their three young children, who were held hostage by militants in Afghanistan for five years.

The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan [TTP] claimed responsibility for the attack.

The four security personnel who were martyred were identified as Captain Husnain, Sepoy Saeed Baz, Sepoy Qadir and Sepoy Jumma Gul. Injured security personnel were shifted to a local hospital.

Security was put on high alert following the incident while a search operation is underway in the area.

Their funeral prayers were offered at the FC Ground in Parachinar where senior civil and military officials were in attendance.

In a statement, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, as well as Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, condemned the incident.

Bhutto called for national unity to defeat terrorism.

According to a private media outlet report, following the incident, the border crossing at Kharlachi was shut down.

On June 17, the border crossing was reopened after a four-month closure following the deadly suicide bombing at Sufi saint Lal Shahbaz Qalandar’s shrine in Sindh in February 2016.

More than 80 people were killed in the attack.