- Explosion set off via remote control near Jalala Bridge soon after a police vehicle passed over
- Police vehicle, rickshaw damaged in blast
MARDAN: Three people were killed and seven others sustained injuries when an improvised explosion device planted near Jalala Bridge in Mardan’s Takht Bai area was set off, police officials said.
Mardan District Police Officer (DPO) Zahoor Barbar Afridi confirmed the casualties, saying the explosion was set off via remote control.
DPO Afridi claimed that the explosion occurred soon after a police vehicle passed over the bridge, suspecting it could be an attempt to target the police.
Rescue 1122 rescuers and ambulances rushed to the scene soon after the incident and transported the deceased and injured to local hospitals.
The casualties were taken to the THQ Takht Bhai and MMC for further treatment and identification, the health officials stated.
Police have begun collecting evidence from the site and have initiated an investigation into the incident.
Saddr Superintendent of Police (SP) Khalid Khan told the media that “unidentified terrorists” had planted the device near the Jalala bridge in Takhtbhai area, which detonated as the police van passed by.
He said that the police vehicle and a rickshaw were damaged in the blast, with three people in the rickshaw dead while seven others, including two police officers were injured.
The police officer said that a large contingent of police arrived at the scene upon being alerted and launched a search operation, while rescue personnel shifted the wounded to Tehsil Headquarters Hospital Takhtbhai and the injured police officials were taken to the Mardan Medical Complex.
A statement from Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on social media platform X condemned the blast. Naqvi also extended his condolences to the victims.
KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi also condemned the explosion and sympathised with the victims’ families
KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur took notice of the incident and sought an immediate report from the provincial police chief.
He also directed best medical facilities for the injured and sympathised with the bereaved families.
Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Engineer Amir Muqam too condemned the incident and extended his condolences.
Yesterday, amid a fresh spiral of terrorist violence in the K-P province, a former senator and four men travelling with him were killed in a roadside bomb attack on their vehicle in the Mamund tehsil of Bajaur district.
The outlawed TTP was quick to deny involvement in the IED attack on Hidayatullah Khan, a brother of former K-P governor Shaukatullah Khan and son of ex-MNA Haji Bismillah Khan, in the Damadola area of Mamund. Hidayatullah was also the uncle of the independent candidate for the upcoming by-poll for PK-22 Bajaur-IV, Najeebullah Khan.
The bodies of the victims were shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital in Khar where MS Dr Naseeb Gul confirmed their identities as Hidayatullah Khan, Malik Irfan, Nazar Din, Yar Muhammad, and Samiullah. The bodies were later handed over to their heirs after medico-legal formalities.
Pakistan has seen a significant rise in terror-related incidents across the country, particularly after the banned militant Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group broke a truce with the government in November 2022 and began targeting security personnel.
In response to the rising terrorist attacks, the Apex Committee of National Action Plan announced the launch of Operation Azm-e-Istehkam (Resolve for Stability) last month to eradicate terrorism and extremism from the country.
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