Blast in Mardan claims at least two lives, injures five

DPO Mardan says explosion happened immediately after a police vehicle passed over a bridge; rescue operation underway

MARDAN:

At least two people were killed and five others injured, including a police officer, a woman, and a child, in an explosion near Jalala Bridge in the Takht Bhai tehsil of Mardan city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) province, rescue officials said on Friday.

Mardan District Police Officer (DPO) Zahoor Babar Afridi stated that the explosion happened immediately after a police vehicle passed over the bridge, suggesting an attempt to target the police.

According to Rescue 1122 sources, ambulances and medical teams promptly arrived at the scene, transporting the deceased and injured to local hospitals.

The casualties were taken to the THQ Takht Bhai and MMC for further treatment and identification.

Police have begun collecting evidence from the site and have initiated an investigation into the incident.

Yesterday, amid a fresh spiral of terrorist violence in the K-P province, a former senator and four men travelling with him were killed in a roadside bomb attack on their vehicle in the Mamund tehsil of Bajaur district.

The outlawed TTP was quick to deny involvement in the IED attack on Hidayatullah Khan, a brother of former K-P governor Shaukatullah Khan and son of ex-MNA Haji Bismillah Khan, in the Damadola area of Mamund. Hidayatullah was also the uncle of the independent candidate for the upcoming by-poll for PK-22 Bajaur-IV, Najeebullah Khan.

The bodies of the victims were shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital in Khar where MS Dr Naseeb Gul confirmed their identities as Hidayatullah Khan, Malik Irfan, Nazar Din, Yar Muhammad, and Samiullah. The bodies were later handed over to their heirs after medico-legal formalities.