PESHAWAR: Three police officers, including an SHO, were wounded on Sunday when an improvised explosive device struck a police convoy conducting search operations near a cemetery in the Doaba area of Hangu, police said.

According to a police official, Saqib, a team was conducting a search operation in Paracha grav­yard near the Karbogha area when the remote-controlled explosion occur­red, leaving SHO Imran­uddin, Head Constable Jihad Ali and Abid Ali injured.

All three were later provided treatment Hangu’s district headquarters hospital.

The attack followed a threat alert issued on Fri­day by the federal interior ministry in Islamabad. The alert had cautioned that a motorcycle lad­en with explosives might be used to strike a police checkpoint or security officials between the Hangu and Orakzai districts.

The alert had urged concerned authorities to heighten security in the area.

IED expert killed

Meanwhile, security forces eliminated Abu Dujana, an Afghan national identified as a specialist bombmaker, during an intelligence-led raid in Tank district’s Lali Khel area.

The operation, which saw two or three militants escape despite sustaining injuries, yielded a significant cache of weaponry including a 30kg IED, which was promptly neutralised, and a suicide vest, grenades, small arms and ammunition, according to sources.

Kalat bridge bomb defused

Separately in Balochistan, locals helped avert potential disaster by alerting authorities to explosives planted beneath a bridge in Kalat district’s Johan area.

Security forces rushed to the site and defused the 10-kilogram device, which a senior levies official described as “locally manufactured” and intended to destroy critical infrastructure in the Johan sub-tehsil.

He added that a further investigation is underway.

Umer Farooq, Sami Paracha and Abdul Wahid Shahwani also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, November 3rd, 2025