One killed, four injured in quadcopter attack in Bannu, police say

PESHAWAR: One person was killed and four others, including a teenager, were injured in a quadcopter attack in the Bakakhel area of Bannu district, police said on Tuesday.

Bannu District Police Officer Muhammad Furqan Bilal said terrorists dropped an explosive device from a quadcopter within the jurisdiction of Baka Khel Police Station. He said one person died at the scene, while the wounded were shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital for treatment.

Assistant Commissioner Sajjad Hussain and former provincial minister Malik Shah Muhammad Khan later visited the hospital to inquire after the injured and express solidarity with the affected families.

The DPO said anti-drone guns had been deployed and security had been strengthened at police stations, checkpoints and other sensitive locations, measures he said had recently helped foil several quadcopter attacks aimed at police and security forces. Bilal added that after those attempts were thwarted, the attackers had allegedly turned to unarmed civilians in what he described as an effort to spread fear among the local population.

In a separate incident, local sources said a bridge on the CPEC Circular Road in the Saidgi area of Baka Khel was blown up, disrupting traffic in the area.

The attack came two days after another suspected quadcopter strike in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Lower South Waziristan, where three girls were killed and four other members of the same family were injured on Sunday.