Mardan Blast

Cop among two killed in Mardan school blast
MARDAN: Two persons including a cop were killed and three police constables among seven others sustained injuries in an explosion near a girls’ school in Par Hoti early Tuesday, police and local sources said.

The sources said the locals informed the police that the militants had planted explosives at the Government Girls High School in Shah Dhand Baba in the limits of the Par Hoti Police Station.

“The explosives hidden in the heaps of garbage near the gate of the school went off when a police party reached the spot and launched search at around 6: 45am,” said a local man while requesting not to be named.



Constable Allah Nawaz and a passer-by Tahir Khan were killed on the spot, the sources said. Police constables Atif, Jawad and Ali Bahadur were injured in the incident.

The school watchman Khizar Hayat and passers-by Salman, Fayyaz and Turab Ali also sustained injuries in the explosion. The gate of the school and boundary wall was partially damaged in the explosion. The injured were transported to the District Headquarters Hospital where their condition was declared stable.

The bomb disposal unit officials defused some other explosives hidden in the heaps of the rubbish, the sources said. Following the incident, police launched search operation in the area but no arrest was made. They registered the first information report against unidentified militants.

The sources said the militants have set up hideouts in different parts of the city and have started sabotage activities. Rise in the militant activities in Mardan district, particularly in the city, over the last few weeks has created uncertainty among the people.
((ref:thenews.com.pk-23-11-2011))