Policeman among two dead in separate IED blasts in Bajaur: DPO

A policeman and civilian died in two separate bomb blasts on Saturday in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bajaur district, according to the police.

Bajaur District Police Officer (DPO) Waqas Rafiq told Dawn.com that both blasts were caused by improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Mamund tehsil.

He said a policeman died in the first incident while the second incident left a civilian dead.

The DPO said that a “search and strike” operation was under way in the tehsil to apprehend the suspects.

Last week, Jamaat-i-Islami local chapter general secretary Mohammad Hamid Sufi was killed when unknown gunmen opened fire on him in Inayat Kallay area of Bajaur’s Khar tehsil.

The country has lately witnessed a sharp uptick in the number of attacks targeting security forces, other law enforcement agencies, and security checkpoints, particularly in Balochistan and KP, with at least 55 security personnel being martyred in the first three weeks of November, according to a think tank.

Attacks escalated after the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan terrorist group broke a fragile ceasefire agreement with the government in 2022 and vowed to target security forces.