Threat averted: 13 bombs defused near girls school

BANNU:

Thirteen bombs were defused by the bomb disposal squad (BDS) in Bangash Khel area on the outskirts of Bannu on Thursday.

Mandan police official Imran Khan said that at 7am, authorities were informed by a local about a bomb planted by unidentified militants inside a girls primary school. He said heavy contingents of police rushed to the site, surrounded the area and told students not to come out of the building.

At around 9am, BDS in-charge Wasal Khan and his team reached the school and started searching, but were unable to find a bomb in the building. Meanwhile, a police constable guarding the school’s rear spotted two sacks inside a graveyard close by. When inspected, several bombs were found inside the bags.

According to Wasal Khan, the sacks contained a total of 13 bombs which were divided into two 10-kilogramme devices, two 8kg devices and nine 1kg devices.

The number of terror related incidents in Mandan police station’s jurisdiction has gone up in the past week. Earlier, two policemen were killed by unidentified motorcyclists, while on Monday and Tuesday the BDS defused explosives weighing 20 kilogrammes and 12 kilogrammes, respectively.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 22^nd, 2013.