DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan: A roadside bomb struck a police vehicle in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Wednesday, killing three officers in an attack, officials say is part of a recent surge in violence linked to Afghanistan-based terrorists.
Police said the improvised explosive device (IED) detonated in the Paniyala area of Dera Ismail Khan district, instantly killing Assistant Sub-Inspector Gul Alam, Constable Rafiq, and the vehicle’s driver, Sakhi Jan. A fourth officer, Constable Azad Shah, survived the blast without injuries.
District police spokesperson Yaqoob Zulqarnain told reporters the device was planted along the roadside and triggered as the police patrol passed. Security forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation.
“Police are searching for the attackers, and the matter is being investigated from all angles,” he said.
Senior officers reached the site soon after the blast. The District Police Officer later said the attack was carried out by “unidentified terrorists” and condemned it as a “cowardly act” that would not shake police morale.
Officials noted that the attack comes amid a renewed wave of militant assaults in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which Pakistani authorities have repeatedly linked to groups operating from sanctuaries across the border in Afghanistan. Islamabad says these groups have intensified attacks on security forces in recent months.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi also condemned the bombing and expressed grief over the loss of three policemen. The officers, he said, had “laid down their lives for the nation.”
He praised the provincial police for “bravely fighting terrorism on the front line” despite limited resources, adding that such attacks “cannot weaken the resolve of the nation.”
