Death toll from DI Khan blast rises to 6

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: The death toll from the recent bomb blast in Tank Adda in Dera city reached six as another wounded man succumbed to his injuries on Monday.

Waqas Mahsud had sustained injuries in the bomb explosion that was carried out on a van carrying personnel of the Elite Force near Tank Adda in Dera city on Friday last. He was admitted to the hospital where he breathed his last after battling for life for three days.

Funeral prayer for the deceased was offered and later laid to rest in Arah graveyard. It may be mentioned that five persons were killed and 31 others, including two cops, had sustained injuries in the bomb blast targeting a van carrying personnel of the Elite Force.

The vehicle was on its way from Ijaz Shaheed Police Lines in Dera Ismail Khan city to Kulachi tehsil when it was attacked with a remote-controlled blast. The explosion had also badly damaged the police van.

Three of the slain persons were identified as Izzatullah, 25, Sifwatullah, 18, and Qamar Zaman, 16. Qamar Zaman was a student and the brother of seven sisters.

He had come to Dera city in connection with his school examination when he was caught in the blast. Meanwhile, a cop sustained bullet injuries when militants attacked the Roori Police Checkpost in Kulachi tehsil in Dera Ismail Khan.

Sources said that militants equipped with sophisticated weapons attacked the Roori Police Checkpost in the jurisdiction of Kulachi Police Station

A cop identified as Mir Salim sustained injuries in the exchange of fire with the attackers that continued for over 20 minutes. They said that police repulsed the attack and militants managed to escape after an exchange of heavy fire with the law-enforcers.

The attackers, the sources added, were trying to capture the police checkpost but they fled after the cops manning the post gave a befitting response.