12 injured in Waziristan bomb explosion

WANA: At least 12 persons, including six cops and as many civilians, sustained injuries when a police van going for security to a polio vaccination team was targeted with a remote-controlled bomb near Rustam Adda on Wana-Karikot road in Lower South Waziristan tribal district on Monday.

District Police Officer (DPO), Lower South Waziristan, Farmanullah Khan, said that the explosion occurred on the main road near Maulana Noor Muhammad’s mosque near Rustam Adda in Wana.

He said that a police vehicle was targeted with a remote-controlled bomb while going to provide security duty to the anti-polio vaccination teams. As a result, 12 persons, including six police personnel and six civilians. Two schoolchildren were also among the victims.

The DPO said that two police vehicles were on their way from Police Lines Wana to provide security for the anti-polio team. These were heading to Karikot when the explosion occurred. The police vehicles, he said, suffered partial damage in the blast.

Soon after the explosion, the injured were shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital in Wana. Later, the police reached the spot, cordoned off the area, and launched a search operation to apprehend the perpetrators. Evidence was collected from the site and investigation launched.