PESHAWAR: Two alle­ged militants, including a would-be suicide bomber, were killed and their acco­m­plice suffered wounds in what police believed was a ‘premature explosion’ of the suicide belt in the provincial capital on Sunday morning.

The explosion took place on Nasir Bagh Road around 7am.

Official sources said the three alleged militants, one of whom was wearing a suicide belt, were moving towards their target on a motorbike when the suicide belt went off.

They said the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) of pol­ice, which was investigating the explosion, had confirmed identities of the three militants including the alleged suicide bomber, who belonged to Tehkal area of the provincial capital and they had travelled to Afghanistan.

The deceased were identified as Salman, would-be suicide bomber Amir, while the injured militant was identified as Usman.

“The target of the militants is unknown so far but we are investigation the case. What we have confirmed is that the two, who died, were students of a religious seminary while the one who is wounded and is in our custody, is a former seminary student and he sold burgers in University Town area. All the three have a travel history to Afghanistan,” a CTD official told Dawn.

The official said the militant, who suffered injuries in the explosion and was in the CTD custody, could not speak properly and being treated.

“We have confirmed identifies of the three militants and they all are new for us as we never heard about them earlier,” the official said.

“Since the three are completely new for us, we are trying to know which group these militants are affiliated with. An FIR will be registered in a while and we will have a clear picture about the incident by tomorrow evening,” CTD SP Shaukat Khan told Dawn.

The law-enforcement agencies rushed to the spot and cordoned off the area soon after the incident. Spokesperson Rescue 1122 Bilal Faizi said that the bodies of the militants and the injured had been taken to Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH).

On Saturday, the military’s media wing issued a statement stating that “Pakistan has consistently asked the interim Afghan government to ensure effective border management on their side of the border. Interim Afghan government is expected to fulfil its obligations and deny the use of Afghan soil by terrorists for perpetuating acts of terrorism against Pakistan”.

The statement was issued after two militants, who were trying to infiltrate the Pak-Afghan border in North Waziristan district, were killed and three others were injured in an exchange of fire between security forces and the militants.

“Security forces of Pakistan are determined and remain committed to secure its borders and wipe out the menace of terrorism from the country,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the terrorist incident and appreciated the Peshawar police for thwarting the attack on Sunday, adds APP. Mr Sharif said the police had saved the people from a huge loss and terrorists were sent to hell. He reiterated his resolve to eradicate the scourge of terrorism from the country.

Published in Dawn, March 11th, 2024