PESHAWAR: Three police officers, including a station house officer (SHO), were injured on Sunday when an improvised explosive device (IED) targeted a police convoy conducting a search operation near a cemetery in Hangu’s Doaba area, officials said.
According to police official Saqib, the team was carrying out a search operation in Paracha graveyard near the Karbogha area when the remote-controlled explosion occurred, injuring SHO Imranuddin, Head Constable Jihad Ali and Abid Ali. All three were taken to Hangu’s district headquarters hospital for medical treatment.
The incident came shortly after the federal interior ministry issued a threat alert on Friday, warning that militants might use an explosives-laden motorcycle to attack a police checkpoint or security officials in the Hangu-Orakzai region. Authorities had been advised to enhance security in the area following the alert.
In a separate incident, security forces killed an Afghan national, identified as Abu Dujana, an expert bombmaker, during an intelligence-based operation in Tank district’s Lali Khel area. According to security sources, two or three militants managed to flee despite sustaining injuries.
A large cache of weapons and explosives was recovered, including a 30-kilogram IED, a suicide vest, grenades, small arms, and ammunition, all of which were safely neutralised by the bomb disposal unit.
Meanwhile, in Balochistan’s Kalat district, locals helped avert a major tragedy by informing authorities about an explosive device planted under a bridge in the Johan area.
Security personnel rushed to the site and successfully defused the 10-kilogram locally made device, which officials said was intended to destroy key infrastructure in the sub-tehsil. A senior levies official confirmed that an investigation has been launched to trace those behind the attempt.
