2 cops injured in Bannu police station suicide attack

BANNU: Two cops sustained injuries when a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the main entrance to the police station here Tuesday.

“A suicide bomber driving an explosives-packed car was trying to enter the Mandan Police Station early in the day. He detonated his explosives-filled car near the main gate of the police station after the cops on duty challenged him,” said an official.

Two cops identified as Mudassar and Alam Khan sustained injuries in the attack, he added.Eyewitnesses said the main entrance to the Mandan Police Station was destroyed while the nearby shops and houses also suffered damage due to the impact of the explosion. “The windows and doors of nearby houses were smashed in the powerful explosion,” said a local.

Gun-shots were also heard soon after the blast, locals said.The personnel of the security forces and police reached the blast site soon after the attack and shifted the injured cops to the District Headquarters Hospital. The condition of the injured policemen was stated to be out of danger, hospital sources said.

The personnel of the law-enforcement agencies cordoned off the area after the explosion and launched a search operation.  Deputy Inspector General of Police Muhammad Ali and District Police Officer (DPO) Fazal Mehmood visited the Mandan Police Station and later went to the hospital and inquired after the health of the injured cops.

Talking to reporters, DPO Fazal Mehmood said that 200-250 kilogram of explosives material had been used in the attack. He said that the suicide bomber was 22-year-old.He said that the cops were vigilant and foiled the attack.

It is to be mentioned here that the said police station was targetted in a similar suicide attack in 2009 when a bomber rammed an explosives-laden truck into the police station killing around 100 persons and injuring scores of others.