Two cops among five injured in Peshawar blast

PESHAWAR: A bomb went off on the busy Ashraf Road in the city injuring two cops and three civilians on Monday hours after a grenade attack on a house in Murshidabad locality. Initial reports said around two kilograms of explosives were planted apparently to target the traffic police sergeants deployed on the Ashraf Road, the hub of trade in Peshawar.

Police officials said there were no regular police installations in the locality. “According to the reports of the bomb disposal unit, around 500 grams of explosives were planted in a sack on the roadside. It was a mobile controlled device,” Zahoor Babar Afridi, the deputy city police chief, told The News.

He said investigations were continuing to find out the target of the terrorists. Rescue 1122 officials and heavy police contingents rushed to the scene after the blast. The five wounded were taken to the hospital.

“Two traffic policemen Naeem and Qaisar, a shopkeeper Rafiullah and two passersby were wounded in the blast. They were taken to the Lady Reading Hospital from where three were discharged later,” an official said.

A few hours before the blast, a house was attacked with a hand-grenade in Murshidabad locality near the Kohat Road. Officials said no casualty was reported in the grenade attack on the house of a one Ayub.

The officials said the family had been receiving calls from extortionists since 2017. Last week, the police had defused an improvised explosive device (IED) in Matani area on the outskirts of the provincial capital.

Another IED was defused near the District Headquarters Hospital in Upper District. A couple of other IEDs were defused in Bannu in recent weeks. A threat alert was issued recently, directing the police and law- enforcement agencies across the country to beef up security as terrorists were planning to carry out attacks