IED blast targeting police vehicle kills three policemen in northwest Pakistan

Three security men were killed in an improvised explosive device blast targeting a police vehicle in the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in northwest Pakistan on Wednesday, an official said.

The incident occurred in the Panyala area of Dera Ismail Khan district, bordering South Waziristan.

Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) Gul Alam, Constable Rafiq and the driver of the mobile van, Sakhi Jan, were killed in the blast.

The Paniyala Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), station house officer (SHO) and other district police officials reached the site of the improvised explosive device (IED) blast soon after the incident.

A statement by the office of Dera Ismail Khan District Police Officer (DPO) Sajjad Ahmad Sahibzada said that the attack was carried out by "unidentified terrorists." During a search operation launched after the attack an exchange of fire took place between police personnel and militants. As a result, two militants were killed while two others sustained injuries.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Muhammad Sohail Afridi has strongly condemned the bomb attack.

There have been several incidents of attacks on law enforcers in recent months in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, as Pakistan continues to grapple with the issue of terrorism.

The country witnessed a surge in terror activities, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, after the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) ended its ceasefire with the government in November 2022.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)