Explosion in Pakistan injures five policemen

At least five police officers, including an assistant sub-inspector (ASI), were injured in an explosion in the town of Shahbazkhel in Pakistan’s Lakki Marwat district on April 7. 

A spokesperson for the district’s police, Qudratullah, confirmed that the attack was carried out by Fitna-al-Khawarij on the Bannu-DI Khan section of the Peshawar-Karachi Indus Highway. Fitna al Khawarij is a term used by the Pakistani state for militants linked to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Dawn reports.

According to the spokesperson, “terrorists had fitted an improvised explosive device (IED) to a motorcycle parked along the roadside, which later exploded with a loud bang.” He added that a police patrol from Shahbazkhel police station was the target of the blast.

“The explosion was heard throughout the area and left one assistant sub-inspector (ASI) and four constables injured,” Qudratullah said, noting that the police van they were patrolling in was also damaged in the blast. The injured officers were transferred to the District Headquarters Hospital for medical treatment.

Following the attack, a large police contingent reached the town, “surrounded the area and launched a search for the perpetrators of the attack,” the spokesperson added.

Lakki Marwat District Police Officer Nazir Khan, along with personnel from the Counter-Terrorism Department and Bomb Disposal Squad, inspected the site. The DPO issued instructions to subordinate officials to “beef up security and trace and arrest the perpetrators of the terrorist attack.”

The blast comes amid a series of attacks targeting police forces across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), including in Bannu, Peshawar, Karak, Lakki Marwat, and Bajaur. According to the Annual Security Report 2025 from the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), violence in KP has risen sharply, with fatalities increasing from 1,620 in 2024 to 2,331 in 2025.

By Sabina Mammadli