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Published 24 Jan, 2011 10:45pm

Soldier hurt, school blown up in Khyber

LANDI KOTAL, Jan 24: A soldier was injured and a school was destroyed when militants targeted different government buildings in Bara tehsil of Khyber Agency late on Sunday night.

Officials said that the security man was injured when militants fired rockets at different government installations in Bara tehsil of the tribal region.

They said that militants fired at least 20 rockets from different directions at Fort Salop, Bara telephone exchange and offices of political administration.

They said that at least three rockets landed in Fort Salop, injuring a soldier of Frontier Corps.

The rockets also caused partial damage to the outer wall of telephone exchange and a portion of the office of assistant political agent.

Security forces retaliated by pounding suspected positions of militants at different places with heavy artillery shelling.

The local administration had vacated its offices in Bara long ago. The press club, situated in the area, has also been closed since the start of military operation in Bara in September last year.

In another incident, militants destroyed a girls' school in Landi Kotal tehsil of the tribal region on the night between Sunday and Monday.

Officials said that militants planted explosives at a government school for girls in Kandukhel area. The explosives were detonated at midnight, causing damage to the school building. Schools in Landi Kotal are closed owing to winter vacations.

About 39 government-run schools have been targeted by militants in Khyber Agency during the last one year. Meanwhile, a young boy was killed and two of his sisters sustained injuries when a mortar shell landed in their house in Chora area of Landi Kotal on Monday. It could not be immediately known as to who had fired the shell.

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