PESHAWAR: Two policemen were killed on Saturday in Bajaur tribal district after an improvised explosive device (IED) was triggered during a routine patrol.
Bajaur’s District Police Officer (DPO) Samad Khan told Dawn that the police officers were deployed near Raghagan Dam when the IED got set off at around 10:30am.
The DPO said that one of the martyred was a sepoy while the other was a havaldar. The bodies were transferred to the District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital while the police had started a search operation in the area and set up an additional check post.
On October 16, the body of a policeman earlier reported as missing was found in Alizai area of Khar tehsil in Bajaur.
In August, two policemen were injured when suspected criminals hurled a grenade at a police party during a raid on a house in Khar.
Blast in Quetta
At least seven people, including a police official, were injured in a blast in Quetta’s Nawa Killi area on Saturday, Civil Hospital spokesman Waseem Baig said.
The injured also included women, the spokesman added.
Security forces and rescue officials rushed to the area following the explosion. The injured were transferred to Civil Hospital Quetta and the area was cordoned off, police officials said.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Operations Asad Nasir said the explosion occurred near a police mobile.
He added that three to four kilograms of explosive material, fitted to a motorcycle, was used in the blast, according to initial reports. The bomb was detonated via remote control, the SSP further said.
Earlier this year, a policeman was martyred and 17 people injured in a blast near Balochistan University on the city’s Sariab Road.
Then-Balochistan government spokesperson Liaquat Shahwani said that a police truck deputed outside the varsity gate was targeted and an explosive device was planted in a motorcycle.
Blast in Hub
A prominent political leader and tribal elder of Awaran district was killed and two other people were injured in a bomb blast in the industrial town of Hub on Monday night (2 November).
Police said that Mir Akram Sajidi was traveling in his car along with two other persons on the Quetta-Karachi national highway when a powerful blast occurred in the car.
After receiving information about the incident, police personnel rushed to the area. They shifted the body and the injured to the Jam Ghulam Qadir Memorial Hospital in Hub.
Earlier on Oct 11, a bomb exploded in the car of a local journalist, Shahid Zehri, in which he lost his life. Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo, who himself belongs to Awaran district, has condemned the killing of Akram Sajidi in the bomb blast. He termed the bomb attack a cowardly act and said that elements behind the blast would soon be brought to justice.
He expressed sorrow over Akram Sajidi’s death, saying that he was not only a political figure, but also a business leader of the area. He directed the inspector general of Balochistan police to take all possible steps for the arrest of the people involved in the blast.