ISLAMABAD: At least one Frontier Corps (FC) personnel was martyred Monday after a blast targeted a security forces’ vehicle on Peshawar’s Warsak Road on Monday, police and rescue officials said.
Warsak Superintendent of Police Arshad Khan confirmed that it was an improvised explosive device (IED) blast.
The explosion, according to the spokesperson of Rescue 1122, has left six FC personnel and three civilians injured. Two injured FC personnel are said to be in critical condition, according to the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) administration.
The spokesperson added that the injured security personnel and civilians of the blast were brought to LRH, the hospital’s administration confirmed.
Earlier, the Peshawar Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Syed Ashfaq Anwar said the explosion did not appear to be a suicide bombing at the initial stage. He said there is a possibility of explosives being planted along the roadside.
The Bomb Disposal Unit (BDU) and the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) teams were gathering forensic evidence from the attack site, the CCPO said.
Warsak SP said five kilograms of explosive was used in the IED attack.
“The FC vehicles were coming towards Warsak Road from Machni,” he said, adding that five suspects have so far been arrested, as the investigation into the attack begins.
CCPO Anwar conducted an inspection of the blast site and initiated investigations after reviewing the evidence.
According to a preliminary probe, the blast was caused by an improvised explosive device (IED), he mentioned, adding that the nature of the blast will be ascertained once a report by the BDU is available.
The CCPO added that strict monitoring of both internal and external routes in the city has been initiated, emphasising that elements hostile to the country’s interests will not be allowed to succeed in their nefarious objectives.
He maintained that security agencies are actively collaborating in the fight against terrorism to establish peace and security.
Caretaker Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti on Monday strongly condemned the blast near security forces vehicle on Warsak Road, Peshawar.
The caretaker minister prayed for the martyred security personnel and condoled with bereaved family.
He also prayed for the quick recovery of injured security personnel and pedestrians and said that such cowardly attacks cannot demoralize the valiant forces.
The government was determined to eliminate terrorism from society and would not spare any terrorists, he said.
Caretaker Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Muhammad Azam on Monday also strongly condemned the explosion near the vehicle of the FC force on Warsak Road and termed it a cowardly attack by anti-state elements.
In his message, the Chief Minister expressed his best wishes for the recovery of the blast victims and directed the hospital administration to provide the best medical care to the injured.
He said that such incidents could not demoralize the security forces from wiping out terrorism and extremism from society, adding that the entire nation stands by the security forces in this cause.
