2 killed in bomb blast in Pakistan

At least two persons were killed in a remote-controlled bomb blast in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Bajaur district, Dawn reported citing police on Saturday.

Bajaur Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Sattar Khan said that the blast hit the pickup van, resulting in the death of the driver on the spot and a contractor travelling in the vehicle sustained injuries.

The body and injured were taken to District Headquarters Hospital, Bajaur, where the contractor also succumbed to his injuries, the DSP said.

He said the incident took place as the victims were carrying sand in the vehicle to a security check post in Bajaur.

This incident came a week after the suicide bomber case that took place in the Chehkan area of KP's Dera Ismail Khan district.

At least 22 security personnel were wounded in that attack, Dawn reported.

Official sources have revealed that the blast was a "suicide attack in which an unknown suicide bomber riding on a motorcycle blew himself up on the convoy of security forces."

The official sources further said that at least 22 security personnel were injured in the attack, as per the Dawn report. However, the military's media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) has not issued a statement.

According to Dawn, the convoy was heading to the Minza area in the South Waziristan district when it was attacked. After the suicide attack, the area was cordoned off.

Pakistan has seen an uptick in terror activities, especially in KP and Balochistan, after the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) ended its ceasefire with the government in November.

In his maiden press briefing last month, ISPR Director General Maj Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said that at least 293 people were killed and 521 injured in 436 terrorist incidents over the past year.

In KP alone, 192 people were killed in 219 terror activities, while 80 people lost their lives in 206 incidents in Balochistan, 14 people in five attacks in Punjab, and seven in six terrorism incidents across Sindh, reported Dawn.

He had said that the army and law enforcement agencies carried out 8,269 intelligence-based operations during the previous year in which 1,378 suspected terrorists were apprehended and 157 were killed.

The DG ISPR had also said that overall 137 security personnel were killed and 117 injured in anti-terror operations in the ongoing year.