They stopped two trucks heading for the district capital with rice, noodles and biscuits.
The official said electricity and water in the district capital were both gone.
For a long time, Prince Shilwa-Teshub was in charge of the royal governmental administration in the district capital.
In the district capital of Puruk Cahu — a boomtown with imposing new government buildings — the Balai Basarah was similarly empty.
It was also a traditional district capital and cultural centre of the border area of the lower Rhine.
American officials say that the district capital, Miranshah, houses compounds used by the Haqqanis under the noses of Pakistani intelligence.
After insurgents cut off all roads to the district capital, security forces now await air support from the government.
There was no indication, for instance, that the fight to wrest the district capital, Mingora, from Taliban fighters had begun.
The shrine of Sakhi Sarwar, a 12th-century saint, is 25 miles from the district capital in the southern part of Punjab Province.
The site of the accident, in the town of Mangowal, is about 12 miles from Gujrat, an industrial city that is the district capital.
Reaching the village of Pawna from the district capital, Ara, once took more than two hours, but today it is a 30-minute drive.
