Two blasts in a day: Eight people injured in Swabi

A remote-controlled device laden on a motorcycle went off when CM Hoti’s convoy drove towards Swabi.

SWABI: In second blast of the day, eight people were injured including police personnel in a remote-controlled bomb blast attached to a bicycle in a Shewa area of the district on Monday.

Earlier at noon, a bomb planted on a motorbike exploded soon after the motorcade of Chief Minister Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Amir Haidar Khan Hoti passed from the Mall Road in the city, however, no human loss was reported in the blast.

SHO Fayaz Khan of Kalu Khan Police station said that unidentified persons attached a bomb to a bicycle and parked it near a PCO shop in Shewa Adda. He added that the bomb exploded around 4:00pm in a usually crowded area in which a police inspector, a constable along with six others people were injured.

The SHO said that the police rushed to the site and cordoned off the area and with the help of locals, shifted the injured inspector Murad Khan, constable Waris Khan along with the other injured to Civil Hospital Kalu Khan, where doctors referred all of them after a first aid to the District Headquarters Hospital Mardan.

The SHO identified the rest of the injured as Shad Ali, Khurshid, Iqbal Hussain, Rasheed Bhadur, Yasin and Saddiq, adding that a large number of people visited the hospital including local political leaders and activists.

The official added that the shop was completely damaged in the incident, adding that the blast occurred when a small number of people were present. “Usually this place is crowded all the time due to the vehicle stand,” Fayaz said.

CM convoy attacked

A remote-controlled bomb planted on a motorcycle went off near Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Haidar Khan Hoti’s convoy on Monday when he was on his way to Swabi.

According to details, the chief minister came to Bacha Khan Medical Complex in Shamansoor through a helicopter around 10am, and started moving towards the city of Swabi in a convoy at around noon.

He was expected to address Awami National Party (ANP) activists at Swabi Grid Station and inaugurate the Swabi Jehangira Road.

When the convoy was passing through Mall Road, a motorcycle parked near a dump yard exploded, creating panic in the area. However, no human loss was reported in the explosion.

Earlier, Express News had reported that the convoy was targeted in Nowshera.

Soon after the blast, the security forces along with police officials rushed to the site and cordoned it.

Police officials and Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) collected evidence from the site while the chief minister reached the grid station safely where he addressed the activists of ANP.