- Remote-controlled explosive devise targets police vehicle in Rustam Bazaar
WANA: Two people were killed and 20 others sustained injuries in a remote-controlled bomb blast targeting a police vehicle in Rustam Bazaar of Wana in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Lower South Waziristan district, the police confirmed on Thursday.
Confirming the incident, Deputy Superintendent of Police Imranullah said the blast was caused by a remote-controlled explosive device planted near a police vehicle in the Rustam Bazaar, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported.
According to the Wana District Headquarters Hospital’s data, two died in the blast, with 12 people sustaining major injuries and eight others minor ones.
A list of casualties issued by South Waziristan police spokesperson Anayat Khan identified two wounded policemen as Zubair Salaam Khan from the district’s Dabkot area and Fareedun Zubair from Birmal tehsil.
Lower South Waziristan’s District Police Officer (DPO) Tahir Khan stated that the wounded were immediately taken to the Wana District Headquarters Hospital. “Security forces cordoned off the area after the blast and initiated a search operation to trace the perpetrators,” DPO Khan added.
Investigation was also underway to determine the nature of the bomb used, the officer noted.
The incident follows residents’ complaints of the open display of firearms and the free movement of armed men in Wana’s Rustam Bazaar, an important commercial hub of Lower South Waziristan.
The DPO said that no one was allowed to roam Rustam Bazaar openly carrying weapons, and that strict measures would be implemented soon to curb the practice.
Separately, a cop was injured as police and civilians repulsed a late-night terrorist attack on the Khuni Khel police post in KP’s Bannu district.
“Police personnel responded strongly to the terrorist attack while showing bravery and determination,” Bannu DPO Saleem Abbas Kulachi said in a statement.
“A policeman got injured by the terrorists’ firing and was taken to a hospital,” the officer added, noting that residents also joined the police and took up positions against the attackers.
DPO Kulachi stressed that the residents’ courage further heightened the police’s courage. “The net around the terrorists is being tightened,” he asserted.
According to APP, the assault was carried out using both light and heavy weaponry by terrorists from the outlawed TTP and Tehreek-i-Jihad Afghanistan (TTG), operating under the combined name Al-Ittihad al-Mujahideen.
Bannu has also seen multiple quadcopter attacks over the past month, which the military says are carried out by the TTP.
Pakistan has been grappling with a surge in terrorist attacks, especially targeting the police, law enforcement agencies’ personnel, and security forces, mainly in KP and Balochistan after the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) broke a ceasefire agreement with the government in 2022.
“Pakistan witnessed a slight uptick in militant violence in July, according to a report released by the think tank Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (Picss). KP, including its tribal districts, remained the epicentre of militancy, accounting for 53 of the 82 attacks recorded nationwide.
A day ago, a police constable was among two people injured when Upper South Waziristan Deputy Commissioner Asmatullah Wazir’s vehicle came under attack in the district’s Ladha tehsil.
The same day, four security personnel and a policeman were among seven people martyred in two separate firing incidents in KP’s Karak and Peshawar districts.
On Tuesday, unidentified attackers fired a rocket targeting a Scout camp in Wana. Although there were no reports of casualties or property damage, the explosion caused widespread fear and concern among residents.
Last Sunday, two militant commanders and the brother of a tribal elder were killed in a clash between the banned TTP (Gul Bahadar group) and family members of elder Malik Ashiq Noor in the Dana area of Lower South Waziristan’s Birmal tehsil.
