Deadly blast rocks Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: 7 policemen killed, multiple injuries reported

Islamabad (The Uttam Hindu): At least seven policemen, including the SHO, were killed in a blast near a police vehicle in the Bettani tribe of Lakki Marwat district in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. According to information shared by local media, one person was reportedly injured in the blast on Friday.

According to a local police spokesman, the blast occurred near a police mobile, killing seven policemen and injuring another. According to Pakistani media outlet Geo News, the police spokesman said that more police personnel were deployed to secure the scene and assist in further action. Since the Taliban seized power in Kabul, Pakistan has seen a surge in cross-border terrorist activities. Such incidents are particularly prevalent in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces, which share borders with Afghanistan.

Geo News reported that Pakistan has launched Operation Ghazab Lil-Haq in response to terrorist incidents and claimed to have killed at least 641 Afghan Taliban fighters in attacks carried out along the border and in Afghanistan. Prior to this operation, Pakistan carried out airstrikes in Nangarhar, Paktika, and Khost provinces in Afghanistan. The Taliban has accused Pakistan of carrying out deadly airstrikes in residential areas in Nangarhar and Paktika provinces, killing several civilians. According to local media reports, on March 8, a senior Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) official was shot dead by unidentified assailants in the Killi Ismail area of ​​Quetta, Pakistan.

According to Pakistani media Dawn, police said that Inspector Metha Khan, who had recently joined the CTD, was shot by armed men while passing through the Killi Ismail area on March 8. A senior police officer said that armed men on a motorcycle opened fire on the CTD officer, killing him on the spot. The officer said that the gunmen fled the scene after the incident. Police cordoned off the area and launched a search operation to nab the attackers. Meanwhile, a report by an Islamabad-based think tank revealed that combat-related deaths in Pakistan increased by 30 percent in February, due to a rise in suicide attacks across the country.