Three people were killed while seven others were injured as a result of an explosion on Friday in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Mardan district when a remote-controlled explosive device planted on a bridge was set off, police officials said.

Sadar Superintendent of Police (SP) Khalid Khan confirmed the casualties to Dawn.com, saying that “unidentified terrorists” planted the device near the Jalala bridge in the Takhtbhai area and detonated it as the police van was passing by.

He said that the police vehicle and a rickshaw were damaged in the blast, with three people in the rickshaw dead while seven people were injured, including two police officers.

SP Khan further said that a large contingent of police arrived at the scene upon being alerted and launched a search operation, while rescue personnel shifted the wounded to Tehsil Headquarters Hospital Takhtbhai and the injured police officials were taken to the Mardan Medical Complex.

Mardan District Police Officer Zahoor Barbar Afridi told Dawn.com that the explosion was set off via remote control.

A statement from Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on social media platform X condemned the blast. Naqvi also extended his condolences to the victims.

KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi also condemned the explosion and sympathised with the victims’ families

Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Engineer Amir Muqam too condemned the incident and extended his condolences.

Earlier this week, a security official was martyred and four others sustained injuries when an improvised explosive device (IED) exploded near a vehicle carrying security personnel to the Iskalku area of Kalat district.

The vehicle was hit while en route to Iskalku, where posts were set up to guard the oil and gas exploration site of a petroleum company.

Pakistan has seen a significant rise in terror-related incidents across the country, particularly after the banned militant Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group broke a truce with the government in November 2022 and began targeting security personnel.

In response to the rising terrorist attacks, the Apex Committee of National Action Plan announced the launch of Operation Azm-e-Istehkam (Resolve for Stability) last month to eradicate terrorism and extremism from the country.