PESHAWAR: A civilian and a policeman were injured when a powerful vehicle-borne improvised explosive device went off on Indus Highway, damaging the outer wall of Sra Khawra checkpost, some 15 miles south of the provincial capital, officials said.

They said that the bomb had been planted in a loader rickshaw, which went off on Frontier Road, a link road connecting the Indus Highway, commonly known as Kohat Road, with Khyber district. The blast occurred in the jurisdiction of Mattani police station.

“Two persons arrived at the scene with a loader rickshaw, parked the vehicle there and set it on fire. At the same time, two motorcyclists also arrived at the scene and took away the two persons who had parked the bomb-laden rickshaw there,” SP Saddar Circle Fida Hussain told Dawn, adding that a cop and a civilian sustained injuries in the blast. They were later shifted to the hospital.

He said the police post’s outer wall collapsed, while vehicles parked inside the post and in the garage of a nearby house were also damaged.

Mr Hussain said the area was immediately cordoned off and a search operation was launched.

Meanwhile, the bomb disposal unit of the police said that a total of 50 kilogrammes of explosives were used in the attack.

On March 1, two police personnel and six civilians were injured when terrorists attacked police installations.

A police official said that a cop sustained injuries when a hand grenade was hurled inside the Mattani police station.

He also said that a cop and six civilians were injured in an attack on the Sra Khawra checkpost.

The official said that terrorists used hand grenades and sophisticated weapons in attacks on the police installations.

According to SP Saddar division Arshad Khan, terrorists used modern gadgets, including infrared cameras, in the attacks.

He said the department had conveyed threat alerts to all the police stations, adding that the threat was not over and still existed.

“We carried out search operations, but no one has so far been arrested. The search operations will continue till the perpetrators of the attacks are arrested,” he said.

Published in Dawn, September 17th, 2026