F.P. Report BARA: At least 18 people were killed early in the morning at 03:00 am when Mufti-led group came in 16 pickups along with heavy artillery, when they reached Badshah Khan house, the supporter of Pir Saifur Rehman, so his arm men attacked the Mufti followers and fight broke out between these two groups.The severe fighting continued till 02:35 am when Pir men run out of bullets and ammunition they surrender to Mufti group. They were led to a near by dried stream (Sor Dand Khowar) and they were shot dead by close range, some eye witnesses told this correspondent when asked.
Other individuals said that when Pir men surrender to FC not to Mufti followers, but we are unable to confirm from the higher authorities as they are not answering our telephone call.
The funerals were held at 09:00 am in Nala Kajoori for three dead men, one was taken to Maiden, Terah, one was buried in Zakha Khel area those were the men of Mufti-led group. We tried to contact Mungal Bagh, the Supreme Commander of Lashkar-i-Islam but he was unavailable to give comments on current situation.
The whole agency was cordoned off and FC personnel were patrolling the area as no one is allowed to use road but they can use other means to reach different parts of the area. Some sources said that government is planning to launch operation. At 10:00 am (Tuesday) a helicopter landed at Qilla Fort Slop Sor Dand. Some rumors were that DG ISPR General Shaukat Sultan visited the area. The helicopter left the area at 04:00 pm.
The 18 dead bodies were taken in a FC truck towards Bara for further investigation. The following is the FATA secretariat spokesmanÂ’s statement, so far 23 people have been confirmed death in fierce brawls between two rival groups of religious leaders Mufti Munir Shakir and Pir Saifur Rehman at a tribal area in Tehsil Bara on Monday. An eyewitness said seven persons of one group including Haji Jan, Gull Wali, Haji Ashraf, Naimat Shah, Murad Khan, Noor Gull and Shango while Baseeruddin, Salauddin, Syed Anwar, Subhanallah, Muhammad Din and Azizullah of second group besides 13 unknown Afghans died in violent fights. The Afghans who died as a result of shelling and gun firing could not be identified till the filing of the report. The FATA Secretary Spokesman confirmed death of 23 persons while more than 25 are seriously injured in firing till last reports came in. The clashes erupted Monday and continued till Tuesday morning, it added. Many of those killed in the clashes were Uzbek Afghans, though there was no official confirmation of the deaths. A press release from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) secretariat of the NWFP said that the situation in Bara, the headquarters of the Khyber agency, was normal Monday after an armed clash between two rival religious groups left four to five people injured.