LAKKI MARWAT / DI KHAN: A convoy of security forces narrowly escaped a suicide attack on Miramshah road in Bannu on Thursday.

An official source said that the convoy was passing through the busy road connecting Bannu with Miramshah, headquarters of North Waziristan district, when the suicide bomber tried to target it.

“When it reached near the airport, a suicide bomber tried to hit it but the explosive-laden vest he was wearing exploded before he could reach the target,” he maintained. He said the explosion was heard in the surrounding areas but it did not cause any casualties. “A vehicle was partially damaged in the blast,” he said.

The official source said that body parts of the bomber were found in the fields near the site of the explosion. “Police and security experts collected evidence from the site while the security forces launched a search to eliminate other terrorists found in the area,” he added.

Security was also beefed up after the attack and local police increased patrolling in the district.Meanwhile a policeman embraced martyrdom as terrorists attacked Samiullah check-post here in the limits of City police station late on Wednesday night.

According to a police spokesman, unknown assailants opened fire at the post and as a result, levies police constable Ehsanullah of Kalai Umar Adda embraced martyrdom.

The police team deployed at the check-post retaliated but the terrorists managed to escape from the scene.

Soon after the incident, Tank DPO Ifekhar Ali Shah along with SP Investigation Haji Nasir Khan and a heavy contingent of police reached the site, surrounded the area and started a search operation.

Later, the funeral prayers of the martyred constable was offered at the DPO office on Thursday morning with full official protocol.

On the occasion, a police contingents presented a salute to the martyred cop. The coffin was later shifted to Umar Adda, the hometown of the martyred cop, for burial.

Published in Dawn, September 8th, 2023