Lashkar-e-Islam chief Mangal Bagh warned of revenge attacks and asked the tribal police, known as Khasadar force, to quit their jobs.

Khyber's top administrator Tariq Hayat Khan told BBC Urdu news service Saturday that 300 policemen did not report for duty at the weekend.

Khan, however, said the situation would not make an impact on the operation. The government has doubled the number of soldiers deployed in the district.

Elsewhere, security forces Sunday destroyed a car bomb near a check post in the neighbouring North West Frontier Province, killing the suicide attacker. The abortive attack in the restive Malakand region left three people injured, a military spokesman said.