ISLAMABAD: An explosion ripped through an arms depot near Islamabad’s Sihala area on Monday, killing one security official and injuring two others, DawnNews reported.

The explosion brought down the roof of a barracks.

“It was an accidental blast. An explosive device exploded when a few people were handling it inside an army depot,” said Faisal Memon, a senior police official in the area.

“The army has blocked entry to the site,” he said.

Another police official said the roof of a barracks collapsed.

“It was a small room being used by army personnel as a residential barracks.

Explosives were also stored there, which exploded and injured three,” said Basharat Ali, a local police official.

“The injured are being shifted to a military hospital,” he said.

Sihala houses a police academy which had been attacked by militants in the past.

Militants linked to al Qaeda and the Taliban have stepped up suicide and bomb attacks across Pakistan to avenge the killing of Osama bin Laden by US Navy SEALs in May.

In May, a handful of militants stormed a major naval base in Karachi.