At least four policemen were killed and six others injured when three suicide bombers blew themselves up in a police station on Friday. — Photo by AFP

PESHAWAR: At least four policemen were killed and six others injured when three suicide bombers blew themselves up in a police station on Friday. A terrorist was injured when he was trying to place an explosive device on a road Two sub-inspectors were among the policemen killed in the early morning attack on the ‘C Division’ (Kotwali) police station on Circular Road.

Peshawar city police chief Syed Imtiaz Altaf said the bombers blew themselves up when their attempt to enter the building after hurling grenades was foiled by the policemen on duty.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said the terrorists had apparently planned to capture the entire building which housed over 370 personnel of reserve force.

He said an inquiry would be held to find out how they had managed to enter the premises of the police station.

He said the attackers had tried to enter the building from the main gate but could not do so because of the alert sentry and they moved to another gate.

The minister said two of the bombers appeared to be brothers. He said the terrorists were suspected to be members of the banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan and the incident was possibly linked with Thursday’s bomb explosion at a bus stand.

An injured constable, Muqadar Khan, said he was sleeping after completing his night duty at about 1am when he was woken up by the sound of gunshots.

“There was smoke and dust all around and continuous firing. The attackers had blocked the entrance,” he said, adding that he used the back door to come out of the building, but was injured. “I was unarmed because I had returned my rifle to the official concerned after my shift.”

According to another witness, the attackers fired at the sentry on the main gate at about 7am, but he ran inside and blocked the entrance. “The terrorists entered the premises through a small gate and started firing with a machine gun.”

A policeman said he at first thought it to be test firing. He said the policemen who were in the building’s basement at the time of the attack were safe.

According to sources, intelligence agencies had warned in May last year of the need to improve security at the place.

Lady Reading Hospital’s Medical Superintendent Dr Rahim Jan Afridi told reporters that SI Munawwar Khan and constable Falak Niaz had been brought dead to the hospital while SI Dawai Khan and constable Khan Shah died during treatment.

The SHO of Hashtnagri police station, Gohar Zaman, was also injured in the attack.

Remains of the bombers were taken to the local mortuary.

The chief of the bomb disposal unit, Additional Inspector General Shafqat Malik, said the suicide jackets of the bombers weighed 10 kilogrammes each.

According to another official, seven grenades and a damaged Kalashnikov rifle had been found at the place after the attack.

He said the attackers had used a Glock tactical light with laser.

The explosions damaged the building, adjoining houses and the power supply system. The traffic on the Circular Road and nearby streets was stopped after police and paramilitary personnel cordoned off the entire area.

Later, another explosion took place in Shaheedabad on a road in Chamkani area.

Police said a suspected militant was injured when 6kgs of explosives packed in plastic can went off. “I think he was placing the explosives there when the packet blew up,” an official said.

The injured man was taken into custody, but another suspect is reported to have escaped. BDU personnel also defused 22kgs of explosives found near the place where the second blast had taken place.

AP adds: TTP spokesman Ahsanullah Ahsan told AP the attack had been carried out by an affiliated group, the Abdullah Azzam Brigade.

A man who claimed to be a spokesman for the group said the attack had been carried out to avenge the death of one of its leaders, Badar Mansoor, in a US drone strike on Feb 9.