Sihala houses a police academy which had been attacked by militants in the past. — Photo by AFP

ISLAMABAD: An explosion ripped through an arms depot near Islamabad’s Sihala area on Monday, killing one security official and injuring two others, DawnNews reported.

The explosion brought down the roof of a barracks.

“It was an accidental blast. An explosive device exploded when a few people were handling it inside an army depot,” said Faisal Memon, a senior police official in the area.

“The army has blocked entry to the site,” he said.

Another police official said the roof of a barracks collapsed.

“It was a small room being used by army personnel as a residential barracks.

Explosives were also stored there, which exploded and injured three,” said Basharat Ali, a local police official.

“The injured are being shifted to a military hospital,” he said.

Sihala houses a police academy which had been attacked by militants in the past.

Militants linked to al Qaeda and the Taliban have stepped up suicide and bomb attacks across Pakistan to avenge the killing of Osama bin Laden by US Navy SEALs in May.

In May, a handful of militants stormed a major naval base in Karachi.

Opinion

Editorial

Tax amendments
Updated 20 Dec, 2024

Tax amendments

Bureaucracy gimmicks have not produced results, will not do so in the future.
Cricket breakthrough
20 Dec, 2024

Cricket breakthrough

IT had been made clear to Pakistan that a Champions Trophy without India was not even a distant possibility, even if...
Troubled waters
20 Dec, 2024

Troubled waters

LURCHING from one crisis to the next, the Pakistani state has been consistent in failing its vulnerable citizens....
Madressah oversight
Updated 19 Dec, 2024

Madressah oversight

Bill should be reconsidered and Directorate General of Religious Education, formed to oversee seminaries, should not be rolled back.
Kurram’s misery
Updated 19 Dec, 2024

Kurram’s misery

The state must recognise that allowing such hardship to continue undermines its basic duty to protect citizens’ well-being.
Hiking gas rates
19 Dec, 2024

Hiking gas rates

IMPLEMENTATION of a new Ogra recommendation to increase the gas prices by an average 8.7pc or Rs142.45 per mmBtu in...