File Photo

By Mashal Khan

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - At least seven police officers were martyred, and another was injured in a bomb explosion targeting a police vehicle in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Friday, local police officials said.

According to police, the officers were traveling in an official vehicle to attend Friday Prayer when militants detonated an explosive device along their route, destroying the vehicle and killing several personnel on the spot.

A police official speaking to the South Asia Times said the victims included a Station House Officer (SHO) and several other policemen. One officer was also wounded in the blast and was shifted to a nearby hospital for treatment.

Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi confirmed the attack and strongly condemned the killing of the officers, describing it as a cowardly act of terrorism. He vowed that security forces would continue operations to eliminate militant groups operating in the region.

Police personnel have increasingly become targets of militant attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where security incidents have risen in recent months. Just last week, another police station chief and more than a dozen police officials were killed in separate attacks across the province.

Pakistan has blamed the resurgence of violence on militants linked to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which frequently targets security forces and civilians. Islamabad has repeatedly accused the Afghan Taliban administration in Afghanistan of allowing TTP fighters to operate from its territory, allegations that Kabul denies.