Islamabad, February 25 – The main highway connecting Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces remained closed on Wednesday after a suicide attack at the Dajil checkpoint near the Dera Darya Khan bridge in the Bhakkar district. This resulted in commuters and traders facing inconvenience, according to local media reports.
The attack took place when a suicide bomber detonated explosives near the checkpoint near the bridge linking Dera Ismail Khan with Punjab on Tuesday at around 7 p.m. (local time), according to Dawn, Pakistan's leading daily.
CCTV footage reportedly showed the attacker approaching the checkpoint before carrying out the blast.
Two police personnel were killed in the explosion, while four others were injured. All injured personnel were taken to the District Headquarters Hospital for treatment.
Following the blast, security was heightened in Dera Ismail Khan and the Bhakkar district. The police closed the road near the Dera Darya Khan bridge and suspended all traffic as a precautionary measure, while a search operation was launched in the surrounding areas, Dawn reported. Commuters were facing difficulties due to the closure of the highway between Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
On Tuesday, seven individuals, including six police personnel, were killed after unidentified assailants targeted a police vehicle in the Kohat district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, according to local media.
A senior police officer stated that six police personnel, including the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), an inspector, and four constables, were killed after a vehicle carrying two individuals for a court appearance was targeted. The officer mentioned that one of the two individuals was also killed in the attack. The attackers also set the vehicle on fire following the attack.
On Monday, at least three Federal Constabulary (FC) men were killed when an ambulance carrying injured personnel came under attack in the Badrakhail area of Karak in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, according to local media, citing regional police authorities.
The personnel were injured in an attack on an FC post in the Dargah Shaheedan area on Monday, and were being transported to a hospital for treatment when the attack took place, according to the District Police Officer (DPO) of Geo News, Pakistan's leading media outlet.
The report mentioned that at least five FC men were injured in the attack, while two rescue personnel were also wounded in the ambulance attack. Following the attack, police launched a search and rescue operation to find the attackers.
Pakistan has witnessed a rise in terrorist activities, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, since the ceasefire deal between the government and the Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) ended in 2022.
