A remote-controlled explosive device planted on a bridge in Mardan’s Takhtbhai area detonated on Friday, confirmed police officials, resulting in three fatalities and seven injuries.
Sadar Superintendent of Police (SP) Khalid Khan stated that unidentified terrorists had placed the device near Jalala bridge. The blast occurred as a police van was passing by, causing damage to the police vehicle and a rickshaw. The explosion claimed the lives of three rickshaw passengers and left seven others wounded, including two police officers.
Following the incident, a significant police presence arrived at the scene and initiated a search operation. Rescue teams swiftly transported the injured to Tehsil Headquarters Hospital Takhtbhai, while the police officers were taken to Mardan Medical Complex.
Mardan District Police Officer Zahoor Barbar Afridi confirmed that the explosion was triggered remotely.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi denounced the blast on social media platform X, offering condolences to the families of the victims. KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi and Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Engineer Amir Muqam also expressed sympathy and condemned the attack.
This tragic incident comes shortly after another attack earlier in the week in Balochistan’s Kalat district, where an improvised explosive device (IED) targeted a security vehicle, resulting in the martyrdom of one security official and injuries to four others. The vehicle was en route to safeguard an oil and gas exploration site in the Iskalku area.
Pakistan has witnessed an alarming increase in terrorist incidents, particularly since the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) resumed targeting security personnel after terminating its truce with the government in November 2022.
