TIMERGARA: A police officer, his driver and a civilian were killed while two other policemen got injuries when a mobile van of the Zaimdara Maidan police station was hit by a roadside bomb blast at Suri Pao village in Maidan on Thursday.

Residents and police sources said that SHO Bakht Munir along with other staff members was going to Suri Pao to investigate a murder case when an improvised explosive device went off with a big bang.

The SHO, van driver Irfanullah and an unidentified civilian were killed on the spot while two other police officials were critically injured. The injured were first taken to the THQ Hospital Lal Qila from where they were referred to DHQ Hospital Timergara. The Zaimdara police registered a case against unknown militants and started investigation.

The police team was investigating the killing of one Sarfaraz Khan who was shot dead by unknown attackers on Wednesday night.

Maidan, once the stronghold of the banned Tehreek-i-Tali­ban Pakistan and the hom­etown of the Tehreek Nifaz-i-Shariat-i-Muhammadi’s chief Maulana Sufi Muhammad, was cleared of militants by military in 2009. Authorities had claimed that the area was cleared of militants.

Several checkposts recently were handed over to police and the civil administration.

Published in Dawn, June 8th, 2018