At least one FC personnel martyred, several injured in Peshawar blast

Peshawar: At least one Frontier Corps (FC) personnel was martyred Monday after a blast targeted a security forces’ vehicle on Peshawar’s Warsak Road on Monday, police and rescue officials said.

Warsak Superintendent of Police Arshad Khan confirmed that it was an improvised explosive device (IED) blast.

The explosion, according to the spokesperson of Rescue 1122, has left six FC personnel and three civilians injured. Two injured FC personnel are said to be in critical condition, according to the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) administration.

The spokesperson added that the injured security personnel and civilians of the blast were brought to LRH, the hospital’s administration confirmed.

Earlier, the Peshawar Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Syed Ashfaq Anwar said the explosion did not appear to be a suicide bombing at the initial stage. He said there is a possibility of explosives being planted along the roadside.

The Bomb Disposal Unit (BDU) and the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) teams were gathering forensic evidence from the attack site, the CCPO said.

Warsak SP said five kilograms of explosive was used in the IED attack.

“The FC vehicles were coming towards Warsak Road from Machni,” he said, adding that five suspects have so far been arrested, as the investigation into the attack begins.

CCPO Anwar conducted an inspection of the blast site and initiated investigations after reviewing the evidence.

According to a preliminary probe, the blast was caused by an improvised explosive device (IED), he mentioned, adding that the nature of the blast will be ascertained once a report by the BDU is available.

The CCPO added that strict monitoring of both internal and external routes in the city has been initiated, emphasising that elements hostile to the country’s interests will not be allowed to succeed in their nefarious objectives.

He maintained that security agencies are actively collaborating in the fight against terrorism to establish peace and security.

‘Cowardly attack’
Meanwhile, former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif has condemned the “cowardly attack on FC officials’ vehicle” in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

“The sacrifices of our valiant soldiers and resilient people will not go in vain and such terrorist attacks cannot stop us from completely getting rid of the militants,” he wrote.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president also paryed for the “quick and complete recovery” of the injured.

“May Allah grant sabr [patience] to the bereaved family of martyred FC official,” he stated.

The latest incident comes a day after seven terrorists were killed while another six got critically injured during an intense exchange of fire between the militants and the security personnel in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Chitral district, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement.

According to the military’s media wing, the shooting took place in the general area of Ursoon in Chitral district on Saturday.

The army troops effectively engaged terrorists’ location and resultantly, “seven terrorists were killed while another six were critically injured,” read the statement.

Pakistan has been grappling with terrorism for the past several months. A report compiled by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS) stated a sharp increase in militant attacks across Pakistan in the month of August with 99 terror incidents reported, which resulted in 112 deaths and 87 injuries, mostly targeting security forces personnel and civilians.

The country’s civil and military leadership have resolved to continue their fight against terrorism, as both the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir and Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar have vowed not to surrender before terrorists.

The COAS said that the nation cannot be “coerced” by “cowardly tactics of the terrorists” who hold the “misbelief that they can challenge the iron resolve of the soldiers and writ of the state”.

“The army, law enforcement agencies and the nation can never be coerced by the cowardly tactics of the terrorists, who have a misbelief that they can challenge the iron resolve of the soldiers and writ of the state,” Gen Munir had said earlier this month.

The premier, too, resolved to not surrender before radicalisation, extremism and intolerance under any circumstances while praising the Pakistan Army’s sacrifices to protect the nation.

PM Kakar, during his visit to Karachi, said acts of terrorism cannot weaken Pakistan’s resolve in the fight against terrorism.