CHARSADDA: Two policemen were killed in a grenade attack at Bacha Khan Chowk in Shabqadar on Tuesday, police said.

District Police Officer Shafiullah Khan told Dawn that a police van was patrolling the area when two men hurled a hand-grenade on it and fled.

The grenade exploded at the front side of the vehicle, killing a constable, Shaheen Islam, and injuring another.

Constable Ibrahim was taken to the tehsil headquarters hospital. He was being shifted to Peshawar for treatment but died on the way.

Other policemen in the van escaped unhurt.

The SHO of Shabqadar police station, Gul Shed Khan, said that law-enforcement personnel cordoned off the area where the incident took place and launched a search operation. However, no arrest was reported till late into night.

Meanwhile, Jamaatul Ahrar (JA), a splinter group of the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the attack.

JA spokesperson Ihsanullah Ihsan sent a statement to media outlets in Peshawar, saying that `fighters’ of his group had carried out the attack.

Published in Dawn, November 19th, 2014