https://arab.news/5ehzd
- The improvised explosive device targeted an auto-rickshaw in the Mardan district
- No group claimed responsibility, but suspicion is likely to fall on Pakistani Taliban
PESHAWAR: Three people were killed and five others were injured in a remote-controlled roadside blast in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province on Friday, police said.
The improvised explosive device (IED) targeted an auto-rickshaw in KP’s Mardan district, according to police and rescue officials.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but suspicion is likely to fall on the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which has claimed dozens of attacks in the region.
“The IED targeted a Tez Raftar rickshaw near Jalala Bridge in Takht Bhai tehsil of Mardan district,” District Police Officer Zahoor Afridi told Arab News. “Three persons died and five others were injured due to the blast.”
Bilal Faizi, a spokesperson for the Rescue 1122 service, said the injured persons were rushed to Tehsil Headquarters Hospital Takht Bhai and Mardan Medical Complex. “One person succumbed to injuries during treatment,” he added.
Pakistan has witnessed a renewed surge in militant violence in its two western provinces, KP and Balochistan, since the TTP called off its fragile truce with the government in November 2022.
Earlier this month, a policeman and a paramilitary soldier were killed after militants attacked a check-post in KP’s Khyber district. In June, seven Pakistani soldiers, including an army captain, were killed in a roadside blast in the Lakki Marwat district of the province.
Islamabad has blamed the surge in violence on militants operating out of neighboring Afghanistan. Kabul denies the allegation and says rising violence in Pakistan is a domestic issue of Islamabad.