SWABI/BANNU, Jan 4: A militant blew himself up instead of surrendering to police after an encounter in Swabi on Friday.

The incident occurred four days after militants killed seven aid workers, including six women, near Anbar interchange of Islamabad-Peshawar Motorway here.

In charge of city police station Izhar Shah told Dawn that police were patrolling Swabi-Mardan Road when they spotted two suspicious men riding a motorcycle.

He said after seeing police, the two sped away the motorcycle hitting and injuring a woman passerby, abandoning the motorcycle and running away.

Mr Shah said one of the suspicious men entered a house in Gar village, while the other disappeared.

He said police surrounded the house and asked the people by loudspeakers to vacate houses.

“After reinforcements came in from other police stations of the district, police asked the man by loudspeaker to surrender but he instead began firing gunshots at them. Police used teargas and fired at the house before entering the house and as they entered the premises, the man detonated the explosives strapped to his body,” he said.

The in charge of the police station said policemen later collected parts of the bombers’ body scattered all over the place.

Owner of the house Fazal Dad said he was sitting by his mother in a room when the militant entered the house.

“I told him to leave the premises but he refused. He sought a burqa saying he’ll wear it before stepping out along with me and one of my female family members. Since there’s no burqa in the house and police entered the house, he blew himself up in a room instead of surrendering to police,” he said.

In Bannu, two people were injured in two separate blasts in Kinger and Norarh areas of Bannu district on Saturday.

Police said miscreants planted improvised explosive device at the main gate of the house of Ayoub Khan in Kinger locality and that went off on Saturday morning.

They said the blast damaged the gate but caused no damage to inmates.

In another incident, an IED planted at the hujra of Qalandar Shah in Norarh area exploded on Saturday morning, a police official said.

The official said Qalandar Shah and Izzat Khan were critically injured in the blast. They were shifted to DHQ Hospital, Bannu.

He said police registered an FIR against unidentified people and began investigation.

However, no arrest could be made until Saturday night.