PESHAWAR, Nov 17: Two militants were killed and a policeman sustained minor injury in an encounter in Peshawar on Thursday, officials said.

Also, a government school and a basic health unit were blown up by suspected militants in two separate incidents in Charsadda district.

A spokesman for Peshawar police said that militants attacked a patrolling party of Badhber police station near Mamrez police post at Telaband. He said that policemen from different stations were called to hunt down the assailants.

The attackers had taken cover behind the wall of a house and opened firing on policemen, inuring SHO Khushdil Khan, he said, adding the attackers were also gunned down during a one-and-a- half hour encounter.

Sources said that one of the killed militants was identified as Nawab, an Afghan national. Police also recovered two Kalashnikovs, four hand grenades and six magazines from the killed militants.

Meanwhile, an improvised explosive device went off in main Charsadda Bazaar on Thursday night and badly damaged a government high school for boys.

However, the watchman of the school and other people in the area remained unharmed.

In another incident, a basic health unit was blown up by suspected militants in Mansooka area of Shabqadar in Charsadda in the wee hours of Thursday.

“An improvised explosive device, planted at the health facility, went off at 3:30am, destroying the boundary wall and developing cracks in the walls and roof of its two rooms,” sources said.

They added that the explosion was so powerful that it was heard far and wide in the district, creating panic and fear among people.

In Bannu district, a CD shop was blown up by unidentified persons in Taji Kallay bus stand in the limits of Ghori Wala police station on Thursday.

Police said that a bomb, planted at the CD centre on Dera Ismail Khan Road, went off with a bang at midnight and destroyed the shop completely.

Another bomb was found in Sadar Bazaar in the limits of Ahmad Khan Chowk police station. The Bomb Disposal Squad disposed off it successfully.

In Lakki Marwat, police with the help of security forces thwarted a terror bid by defusing a bomb near Malang Adda on Thursday.

The residents of the area noticed suspicious material under a culvert on Tajori Road and informed local police. A heavy contingent of law enforces reached the place and besieged the area.

Later, personnel of Bomb Disposal Squad with the help of security forces defused the bomb, weighing seven kilograms.

Meanwhile, police claimed to have arrested more than 150 suspects during a fortnight crackdown on anti-social elements in different parts of Lakki district.

Opinion

Editorial

Hasty transition
Updated 05 May, 2024

Hasty transition

Ostensibly, the aim is to exert greater control over social media and to gain more power to crack down on activists, dissidents and journalists.
One small step…
05 May, 2024

One small step…

THERE is some good news for the nation from the heavens above. On Friday, Pakistan managed to dispatch a lunar...
Not out of the woods
05 May, 2024

Not out of the woods

PAKISTAN’S economic vitals might be showing some signs of improvement, but the country is not yet out of danger....
Rigging claims
Updated 04 May, 2024

Rigging claims

The PTI’s allegations are not new; most elections in Pakistan have been controversial, and it is almost a given that results will be challenged by the losing side.
Gaza’s wasteland
04 May, 2024

Gaza’s wasteland

SINCE the start of hostilities on Oct 7, Israel has put in ceaseless efforts to depopulate Gaza, and make the Strip...
Housing scams
04 May, 2024

Housing scams

THE story of illegal housing schemes in Punjab is the story of greed, corruption and plunder. Major players in these...