Three FC personnel killed, three injured in Peshawar roadside blast

PESHAWAR: At least three officials of the Frontier Constabulary (FC) were killed and three others injured in an explosion that hit their vehicle in the city on Tuesday.

The roadside bomb went off when an FC vehicle was on a routine patrolling in the neighbourhood of Bashirabad following which the law enforcement officials cordoned off the area and shifted the injured to nearby hospitals.

Initial investigations suggested that it was an improvised explosive device (IED) blast, said a Senior Superintendent Police (SSP) Operations Peshawar.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

In another terror incident, a rickshaw driver was injured when unknown miscreants hurled a hand grenade at the residence of a judge in Madina Colony of the provincial capital.

Meanwhile, a crackdown against extremists and militants continued in Peshawar.

The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) raided at General Bus Stand Haji Camp in the city and arrested Zakirullah, a suspected terrorist.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government had placed a bounty of Rs 0.5 million on Zakirullah’s head since he was wanted in several criminal cases.

Overall levels of militant-linked violence have fallen since the Pakistan army launched the Operation Zarb-e-Azb in 2014 to wipe out militant bases in the tribal districts and end an insurgency that has cost thousands of civilian lives since 2004.

But militant groups are still able to carry out periodic bloody attacks, particularly in the north-west.