Pakistan: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa-Punjab highway remains shut after suicide attack at checkpost

A suicide blast at Dajil checkpost near Dera Darya Khan bridge in Bhakkar district killed two police personnel, shutting the key highway between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab. The attack comes amid rising militancy in Pakistan following the TTP ceasefire collapse

Islamabad: The main highway connecting Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces remained shut on Wednesday after a suicide attack at the Dajil checkpost near the Dera Darya Khan bridge in the Bhakkar district, resulting in commuters and traders facing inconvenience, local media reported.

The attack took place when a suicide bomber detonated explosives close to the checkpost near the bridge linking Dera Ismail Khan with Punjab on Tuesday at around 7 p.m. (local time), Pakistan’s leading daily Dawn reported. Reportedly, CCTV footage showed the attacker coming towards the checkpost before carrying out the blast.

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Two police personnel were killed in the explosion, while four others were injured. All injured personnel were taken to the District Headquarters Hospital for treatment. After the blast, security was placed on high alert in Dera Ismail Khan and the Bhakkar district. Police shut the road near the Dera Darya Khan bridge and suspended all traffic as a precautionary measure while a search operation was launched in the nearby areas, Dawn reported.

Commuters were facing problems due to the closure of the highway between Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. On Tuesday, seven individuals, including six police personnel, were killed after unidentified assailants targeted a police vehicle in Kohat district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, local media reported.

A senior police officer said that six police personnel, including the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), an inspector and four constables, were killed after a vehicle carrying two individuals for a court appearance was targeted. The officer mentioned that one of the two individuals was also killed in the attack.

The attackers also torched the vehicle following the attack. On Monday, at least three Federal Constabulary (FC) men were killed when an ambulance carrying injured personnel came under attack in the Badrakhail area of Karak in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, local media reported, citing regional police authorities.

The personnel were injured in a quadcopter attack on an FC post in the Dargah Shaheedan area on Monday and were being transported to a hospital for treatment when the attack took place, the District Police Officer (DPO) told Pakistan’s leading media outlet, Geo News.

The report mentioned that at least five FC men were injured in the quadcopter attack, while two rescue personnel were also wounded in the ambulance attack. After the attack, police launched a search and rescue operation to find the attackers. Pakistan has witnessed a rise in terrorist activities, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, since the ceasefire deal between the government and the Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) ended in 2022.