https://arab.news/pg8h3
- The blast targeted a police vehicle within the remits of Chamkani police station in Peshawar
- No group immediately claims responsibility, but suspicion is likely to fall on Pakistani Taliban
ISLAMABAD: A suicide blast killed two policemen in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province that borders Afghanistan, police said on Sunday, amid a surge in militancy in the region.
The blast targeted a police vehicle within the remits of Chamkani police station in the provincial capital of Peshawar, according to a Peshawar police spokesman. Three other persons were injured in the attack.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but suspicion is likely to fall on the Pakistani Taliban, who have mounted their attacks against security forces and police in the region in recent months.
“SI (sub-inspector) Laeeqzada Khan and Constable Alamzeb were martyred as a result of the blast,” Alam Khan, the police spokesman said.
Bilal Faizi, a spokesperson for KP Rescue 1122 service, said they shifted the bodies and injured to hospital for medico-legal formalities.
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant violence in KP since the Pakistani Taliban, or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), called off their months-long ceasefire with the government in late 2022.
Islamabad has frequently accused that militant groups use Afghan soil to launch cross-border attacks in Pakistan, an allegation the Afghan Taliban deny, maintaining there are no militant groups operating in their territory.
Late last month, Pakistan’s army said it had killed over 70 militants who were attempting to cross into Pakistan from Afghanistan.