LANDI KOTAL/KOHAT, Feb 13: A volunteer of a peace committee was killed and more than a dozen houses were set ablaze by militants in Bara tehsil of Khyber Agency on Wednesday.

Official sources said that Abdul Khaliq, a peace volunteer belonging to Zaodin tribe, was killed during a clash between security forces and militants in Sheen Qamar area on Wednesday morning. He was killed on the spot when a bullet hit him, they added.

Militants in the area had occupied a bunker but security forces recaptured it after a shootout with them. The shootout claimed the life of the peace volunteer, sources said.

In Barkai area of Storikhel, militants torched the residential compound of a local elder, Malik Almas Khan Storikhel. Sources said that militants set on fire at least 13 houses, built inside the fort-like compound at midnight after overpowering the watchmen.

They said that household items worth millions of rupees were reduced to ashes. Sources said that the family of Malik Almas had long ago vacated their houses owing to threats from militants. They had hired few watchmen to guard the compound.

In Kohat, a man was killed when an improvised explosive device went off in a house in Behzadi Chakarkot area on Tuesday night, police said.

The explosion rocked the entire locality and created panic among the residents of the area. Police said that the device was planted in the house of Katoo Khan. A guest identified as Sajid was killed in the explosion. The bomb disposal squad officials said that at device weighed at least one kilogram. — Dawn Report