A Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) official was martyred and two others sustained injuries when explosives stored inside a CTD police station detonated on Sunday morning, police said.
Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Dr Mian Saeed Ahmad confirmed the casualties and said the blast occurred due to the accidental detonation of old explosive material kept in the station’s ammunition room.
“Preliminary assessment shows that the explosion occurred when old explosives stored in the ammunition room went off. The fire spread to other ammunition, causing secondary explosions,” the CCPO said in a statement.
Rescue teams, the Bomb Disposal Unit, and fire brigade personnel reached the site soon after the incident, while police and security forces cordoned off the area to carry out a clearance operation.
According to the initial police assessment, the incident does not appear to be a terrorist attack. Officials noted that the cause of the explosion resembled a similar incident last year when a blaze destroyed a city police station in Swabi district after ammunition caught fire.
Later, the funeral prayers for martyred CTD policeman Bilal Khan were offered with official honors at Malik Saad Shaheed Police Lines here on Sunday.
The funeral prayer of the martyr was attended by Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Faisal Karim Kundi, IG Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police Zulfiqar Hameed, Additional IG CTD Jawad Qamar, CCPO Peshawar Dr. Mian Saeed Ahmed, Pak Army officials, SSP Operations Masood Ahmed, SSP CTD Najm Al-Hussein, SSP Coordination Khalid Khan, SP Headquarters Ali Gauhar, Divisional SPs, SDPOs, along with the martyr’s relatives and police officers and officials in large numbers.
Separately, three cops, including a station house officer (SHO), were injured in a blast caused by an improvised explosive device (IED) in the Doaba area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Hangu district on Sunday, police said.
Abbas Majeed, the regional police officer in Kohat division, confirmed these details, further stating that a police convoy was targeted in the IED attack.
He added that SHO Imranuddin was among the three injured policemen.
Separately, a statement issued by the Chief Minister’s Office said the provincial chief executive, Sohail Afridi, had taken notice of the incident and sought a detailed report from the KP inspector general of police.
He directed that the injured policemen be provided immediate medical treatment, the statement said, adding that the CM paid tribute to the police personnel’s “courage and sense of duty”.