LAKKI MARWAT: Nine people, including four cops, were injured in an improvised explosive device (IED) explosion in the Serai Naurang town of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Lakki Marwat district on Wednesday, according to police.

District police spokesperson Qudratullah Khan told Dawn that the explosion occurred on the busy Bannu-DI Khan Road near a fruit and vegetable market.

He said that according to initial information, the attackers targeted a police patrol party from the Shaheed Asmatullah Khan Khattak police station.

The spokesperson said Head Constable Waheedullah and Constables Syed Anwar, Hadiullah and Ikramullah were injured in the explosion.

He said that the van the police party had been patrolling in was also damaged in the explosion.

Giving details about the exact nature and cause of the explosion, he said that terrorists had fitted an IED to a motorcycle to target the police van that was passing through the area.

According to the police official, a total of nine people were injured. He identified the rest as 16-year-old Fidaullah, eight-year-old Zahidullah, 13-year-old Yasir, 55-year-old Suleman and Mujeeb.

According to local residents, some shops and vehicles that were parked near the site of the incident had also been damaged in the explosion. They said that the blast also damaged a power transmission line in the congested urban locality.

Bannu Regional Police Officer Sajjad Khan, meanwhile, visited the injured at the hospital and directed the administration to provide them with the best possible medical treatment, according to a statement.

Speaking on the occasion, he said that such cowardly acts by terrorists would not shatter the resolve of the police force. He said that police were fully prepared and committed to foil the nefarious plans of the enemies of peace.

The incident took place around two weeks after an attack on a police vehicle in Lakki Marwat’s Bettani subdivision, in which seven cops, including an officer, were martyred.

According to police, an improvised explosive device was used in the incident to target a squad of the Shadikhel police station while it was on routine patrol.

Six policemen, including a station house officer and five constables, lost their lives in the incident.