2 policemen among 5 injured in Peshawar IED blast: official

Dawn - Five people, including two policemen, were injured in a Friday morning blast in Peshawar, according to a police official.

“A police van was on patrol when a remote-controlled IED (improvised explosive device) exploded,” Warsak Superintendent of Police (SP) Arshad Khan told Dawn.com.

The incident occurred at around 9am, according to the police official.

“Four to five kilogrammes of explosives were used in the blast,” SP Arshad noted.

“Six to seven suspects have also been detained for investigation,” he added.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Operations Kashif Zulfiqar told Dawn.com that evidence has been collected from the crime scene.

“There has been an increase in terrorist attacks on Warsak Road,” SSP Zulfiqar said. “A few days ago, a grenade was thrown at the Mathura police station.”

SSP Zulfiqar said that police are working with the counter-terrorism department (CTD) in the area. “A joint operation will be conducted in the areas of Warsak Road.”

“The group involved in terrorist activities will soon be exposed,” he added.

The incident is the latest in a string of attacks on police officials and checkposts, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.

Attacks escalated after the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) broke a fragile ceasefire agreement with the government in 2022 and vowed to target security forces.

On Wednesday, a head constable was martyred and a constable suffered injuries when unidentified militants hurled a hand grenade on a check post in Mayar, Lower Dir.

Last month, a constable was injured when militants attacked a police post in Peshawar’s Regi Model Town on the city’s outskirts.

In January 2023, a suicide attack on a mosque in Peshawar’s Police Lines killed 100 people, many of whom were police officials.

TTP had claimed responsibility for the attack. It later distanced itself from it but sources earlier indicated that it might have been the handiwork of some local faction of the outlawed group.