Peshawar, April 7 At least five police officers, including an officer, were injured in an improvised explosive device blast in northwest Pakistan on Tuesday, police said.
The incident occurred on a police patrol vehicle in the Lakki Marwat district in the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
The police officers were on patrol on the Bannu-Dera Ismail Khan section of the Peshawar-Karachi Indus Highway when the blast occurred.
A spokesperson for the district's police, Qudratullah, said that the attack was carried out by Fitna-al-Khawarij.
Fitna al-Khawarij is a term the state uses for terrorists belonging to the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
The attackers had planted an improvised explosive device (IED) on a motorcycle parked along the roadside, which detonated with a loud blast as the police vehicle passed by, he added.
An assistant sub-inspector (ASI) and four constables sustained injuries, while the police van was also damaged, the spokesperson said.
The injured personnel were shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital for medical treatment.
A heavy police contingent cordoned off the area and launched a search operation to apprehend those responsible.
District Police Officer (DPO) Nazir Khan, accompanied by officials of the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) and Bomb Disposal Squad, visited the site and reviewed the situation.
He also directed officers to enhance security measures and ensure the early arrest of the perpetrators.
Lakki Marwat and other districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, including Bannu, Peshawar, Karak, and Bajaur, have witnessed a spate of attacks targeting security forces in recent months.
According to the Centre for Research and Security Studies, violence in the province surged significantly, with fatalities increasing from 1,620 in 2024 to 2,331 last year.