TIMERGARA, May 10: The security forces claimed to have killed three militants during an operation late on Monday night in Mula Banda area of Munda tehsil in Lower Dir.

The operation was conducted jointly by police and Frontier Corps after getting information about the presence of militants in the area, they said. The militants were planting an improvised explosive device (IED) when security forces reached there.

All the three militants, including a would-be suicide bomber, were killed after a gunfight that lasted for more than an hour, they said.

Security forces also recovered a remote controlled bomb, three hand grenades, three pistols, a detonator and electric wires from their possession.

The bodies were later shifted to the district headquarters hospital. Their identity could not be established till filing of this report. Interestingly, neither Munda nor Mayar police have registered a case about the incident.

Officials of both the police stations, when contacted, said that personnel of Frontier Corps had taken away the dead bodies and their belongings. “We have not been asked so far to register a case,” they said.

The residents of Mula Banda village, situated on Dir-Bajaur border in the limits of Munda police station said that they heard gunshots at 3am on Monday night. PRIVATE AIRLINES:

Private airlines were fleecing passengers without any check on them, alleged Dilawar Khan, a leader of Promoters Association of Airlines.

Talking to journalists here on Tuesday, he said that a private airline cancelled its domestic flights from Islamabad to Karachi without any prior notice or announcement twice during the current week.

He said that the tickets were non-refundable so the passengers on their way to the Gulf States and Saudi Arabia had to buy new tickets.

He demanded of the government and Civil Aviation Authority to take notice of the matter and direct all the private airlines to refund tickets of passengers. He also threatened to move court if the demand was not met.

LAWYERS: The lawyers of Dir Lower, Dir Upper, Malakand and Chitral on Tuesday boycotted the inaugural ceremony of Darul Qaza in Swat as they had been demanding setting up of the bench in Chakdara.

Talking to journalists, president of Dir Lower District Bar Association Mohammad Salim said that Chakdara was the gateway and centre of Malakand division so Darul Qaza should have been set up there.

“Not a single lawyer from these districts attended the function,” he said, adding that a joint meeting of all the district bars concerned would be convened at Chakdara to chalk out future line of action in that regard.