SWAT / LAKKI MARWAT: A huge explosion inside the Kabal police station late Monday evening killed at least 12 persons, including police officials.
Hospital sources reported 57 injuries, including three civilians, from the blast.
The CTD raided Lakki Marwat and killed three suspected militants, hours before the police station explosion.
District Police Officer Swat Shafiullah said the police station blast occurred around 8:20pm. By press time, the explosion’s cause was unknown.
Later that night, DIG Malakand Nasir Mehmood Satti told journalists that the initial probe found “carelessness” rather than terrorism or suicide. He stated the explosion occurred at a police station weapon storage facility in an old Counter Terrorism Department office.
Despite new evidence, the police officer indicated an inquiry was ongoing.
20 buried.
The blast and fire destroyed the police station’s roof, CTD office, and mosque. Senior police officers said at least 20 policemen trapped under the roof, which collapsed owing to the explosion.
Imdad Khan, an injured policeman at STH, said he in the kitchen with several officers when the huge blast hit. The kitchen collapsed. He informed that he heard multiple blasts and a massive fire erupted following the blast.
The DIG said minor bursts followed the depot explosion owing to ammunition storage.
After the explosion, Rescue 1122 crews responded to medical emergencies. After the explosion, police roped off the area and increased security.
Today, Mingora’s Swat Olasi Pasoon protested the boom.
Three Lakki deaths
The alleged killer of a retired military officer who shot dead at his home by armed men on Sunday, one of the three militants killed.
“A total of three militants including Nouman, who had targeted retired colonel Muqarab Khan, were gunned down in an exchange of fire at the house of a militant commander Zubair of the Tipu Gul group in Paharkhel Tal area within jurisdiction of Lakki Marwat police station,” a senior CTD official said.
On the second day of Eidul Fitr, two unidentified armed individuals entered the ex-army officer’s Hujra and shot him.
Officials say Col Khan slain while the gunmen who held Hujra residents captive escaped.
The assailants rode a motorbike to Darga, a riverine woodland, evading police.
Bannu CTD personnel learned of a militant hideout on Monday, officials said. They stated the terrorists opened fire on them when they reached the bunker, adding that it appeared roughly 10 heavily armed militants well prepared.
A top CTD official claimed three militants, including Nouman, killed and Tehseenullah injured.
He said the CTD thought other militants had been injured and could be in the area, prompting a police and security force manhunt.
Officials claimed CTD Inspector Javed Iqbal and Constable Irfan were critically wounded and taken to the Combined Military Hospital, Bannu, and Khalif Gulnawaz Hospital.
After the search, senior CTD authorities revealed that an organised militant group targeted the former military officer.
