LANDI KOTAL/D.I. KHAN, Feb 3: Bara tehsil and Tirah valley of Khyber Agency remained in the grip of violence, as one Frontier Constabulary soldier was killed and four others were injured in a pre-dawn attack by militants on Friday, while a girls' school was blown up in Dera Ismail Khan. Also, four suspected militants were killed and three others wounded in different parts of the agency.

The injured soldiers were taken to a military hospital in Peshawar.

Sources in Tirah valley said that an activist of a militant organisation was killed and three others were wounded when volunteers of Lashkar-i-Islam and its rival group clashed in Akkakhel area.

The officials said that a bridge in Shalobar area was partially damaged when a time device planted to it exploded on Friday morning. Forces have recently established a number of checkposts in Shalobar area of Bara after nearly 3,000 families vacated their houses and shifted to Jalozai camp in Nowshera.

Of late, the area has witnessed a surge in militant attacks on the security forces and is under curfew since November last year.

In Bazaar Zakhakhel area of Landi Kotal, an explosion outside the house of a local elder killed his son and injured two of his other family members. No one has claimed responsibility for the blast.

The Zakhakhel tribe revolted against Mangal Bagh-led Lashkar-i-Islam in April last year and after forcing the LI activists to leave their area, they now have found their own armed group, Tawheedul Islam. In Dera Ismail Khan, unidentified terrorists blew up a government girls' school in Kotla Saidan late on Friday night.

Quoting an FIR lodged on the complaint of school watchman Taqi Shah, police said that five armed men entered the school, tied Mr Shah with ropes and blew up the building after planting explosives in the classrooms. The Dera Township police station registered the case and has started investigations. According to police, about 40kg of high explosive material was used in the attack.