One person was killed while nine others were injured when a vehicle carrying cement workers was targeted by an improvised explosive device (IED) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Lakki Marwat district on Monday.
The district police spokesperson, Qudratullah, said that the vehicle, which was carrying cement factory workers, was targeted by Fitna al Khwarij terrorists near Nawar Khel area on Begokhel road.
Fitna al Khawarij is a term the state uses for terrorists belonging to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). He said the injured had been taken to the City Hospital. He identified the deceased as Faridullah.
The hospital’s spokesperson, Dr Kifayat Bettani, said that two of the injured were in critical condition. He added that the injured also included two women.
Separately, at least three minor boys were injured after a hand grenade exploded in the suburban area of Sarband. The injured were immediately shifted to a nearby hospital for medical treatment.
According to initial reports, the incident occurred in Dawlatzai Sarband, where the boys found a hand grenade while collecting scrap material. The victims, reportedly Afghan nationals aged between 14 and 16, were moving around the area in a Qingqi rickshaw to collect scrap when they came across the grenade. The explosion occurred when they tampered with it.
The injured have been identified as Rehmanullah, son of Jan Agha (16), Kamran, son of Ajmal (15) and Mirwais, son of Rasool Khan.
Following the incident, police cordoned off the area and launched an investigation to determine how the explosive device ended up in the scrap material.
Separately, one person was killed and 16 others sustained injuries as a result of another blast in Panjgur city of the southwestern Balochistan province, Pangur police station in-charge Shoaib ur Rehman said.
The blast occurred in the city’s busy Chitkarn market.
“A man was killed and 16 others were injured after a remotely controlled IED fitted inside a motorbike exploded,” Rehman told the media. “Four critically injured were being shifted to Karachi, while others were admitted to the District Headquarter Hospital (DHQ) Panjgur.” No group immediately claimed the attack in Balochistan.
Later, the district police Monday said the terrorist involved in planting the IED that targeted a vehicle carrying a cement factory workers was neutralized during the operation.
DIG Sajjad Khan said that ensuring the safety of life and property of citizens was the top priority of the police, adding that indiscriminate action against terrorists would continue to eliminate the menace from the region.
The incidents occurred amid a rise in terrorism targeting law enforcement agencies in the country, particularly in the bordering provinces of KP and Balochistan, since the Afghan Taliban took power in Afghanistan in 2021.
The attack comes a day after four policemen were martyred in two different incidents of firing carried out by unidentified assailants in Lakki Marwat and Bannu districts.
In Lakki Marwat, unidentified motorcycle-riding terrorists opened fire on traffic police personnel in Sarai Naurang city, resulting in the martyrdom of three officers, according to a police spokesperson.
Separately in Bannu, a police constable was martyred after unidentified individuals opened fire in the Mandan area. Police said Constable Rashid Khan came under attack while he was on his way from home to report for duty at Mandan Police Station.