LANDI KOTAL, Feb 1: Eleven members of the Kamarkhel Peace Committee were killed as clashes with Lashkar-i-Islam militants intensified on Friday, sources said.
The fighting intensified when LI activists attacked Kamarkhel tribe’s strongholds of Lakai Sar, Madai and Tor Lagad in Takhtaki.
The day-long clashes left 11 peace committee members dead and several others injured. However, the peace committee members were able to keep the LI men at bay.
The LI men torched a number of houses they had captured in parts of the Takhtaki region and made bunkers in others.
With the intensification in fighting, several Kamarkhel families have left the area and are now stranded at Tangi, a border village between Khyber Agency and Orakzai Agency.
The area is in the grip of severe cold which has multiplied the problems of uprooted families.
The sources said that security forces had started scrutiny of the displaced families and upon clearance each family was issued an identity card.
None of the families were allowed to proceed to either Bara or other parts of Khyber Agency and thus they were forced to live under open sky in the chilly weather.
