LAKKI MARWAT: At least five policemen including an officer were injured in an explosion in the Shahbazkhel town of Lakki Marwat district, police said on Tuesday.

A spokesperson for the district’s police, Qudratullah, confirmed that the attack was carried out by Fitna-al-Khawarij on the Bannu-DI Khan section of the Peshawar-Karachi Indus Highway.

Fitna al Khawarij is a term the state uses for terrorists belonging to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

He said that terrorists had fitted an improvised explosive device (IED) to a motorcycle parked along the roadside, which later exploded with a loud bang. The official added that a police patrol from Shahbazkhel police station was the target of the blast.

The police spokesperson said that “the explosion was heard throughout the area and left one assistant sub-inspector (ASI) and four constables injured”, adding that the police van they were patrolling in was also damaged in the blast.

The official elaborated that the injured cops were moved to the District Headquarters Hospital after the attack for medical treatment.

“After the blast, a large police contingent reached the town, surrounded the area and launched a search for the perpetrators of the attack,” he added.

Lakki Marwat District Police Officer (DPO) Nazir Khan, along with personnel from Counter-Terrorism Department and Bomb Disposal Squad, inspected the blast site.

The DPO issued instructions to subordinate officials to beef up security and trace and arrest the perpetrators of the terrorist attack.

Over the past few months, several areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa — including Bannu, Peshawar, Karak, Lakki Marwat and Bajaur — have witnessed a series of attacks on police forces.

KP has seen a rise in terror attacks in the past year. According to the Annual Security Report 2025 from the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), KP recorded a significant surge in violence last year as “fatalities rose from 1,620 in 2024 to 2,331 in 2025”.