Pakistan: Five police officials killed, 22 people injured in blast near police van in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Islamabad [Pakistan], January 8 (ANI): Five police officials were killed and 22 people were injured on Monday in a blast near a police van in Mamund tehsil of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Bajaur district, Pakistan-based Dawn reported, citing rescue and hospital officials.
Bajaur police spokesperson Israr Ahmed confirmed the police casualties. According to hospital officials, 22 people were injured in the blast, according to a Dawn report.
Wazir Khan Safi, the medical superintendent at Khar District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ), said that 12 out of the 22 people who were injured were being treated at the hospital. Furthermore, 10 others who were seriously injured were referred to a Peshawar medical facility.
Malakand Division Commissioner Saqib Raza said that the ongoing polio campaign in the area was suspended after the blast. He further said that seriously injured people were airlifted to Peshawar and that the area has been cordoned off, Dawn reported.
In a statement, Rescue 1122 said rescue teams in Mohmand and Lower Dir districts were put on "alert". In a statement, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Caretaker Chief Minister Justice (retd) Arshad Hussain Shah condemned the blast and expressed his grief on the death of police officials.
Shah prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured and directed the district administration to ensure the provision of timely aid to them. He stated, "The police morale would not be defeated by such cowardly incidents," Dawn reported.
He stressed that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police have given "eternal sacrifices" to protect the lives of people and vowed to provide "every possible support" to the bereaved families.
Earlier in November, three police personnel, including a station house officer (SHO), were killed and five others including a deputy superintendent of police sustained injuries after a terrorist attack on police in the Kari Shah Noor area of Pakistan's Tank, Dawn reported.
The police spokesperson said that DSP Chan Shah was leading a police party to arrest the kidnappers of a woman in Shah Noor village when unidentified assailants opened fire on the vehicle. The police spokesperson said that attackers opened fire at the police after seeing the police team, according to Dawn report.
According to a police spokesperson, SHO Shaheed Mureed Akbar, Abdul Ali Khan, and two constables, Wahab and Mohammad Alam were killed in the attack. He further said that five police personnel, including DSP Chan Shah, constables Ishfaq, Wafaq and Hidayat of Elite Force and constables Riaz and Ikram of district Tank, were injured. (ANI)