Twin blasts target police in Pakistan’s northwest

Two blasts targeting a police convoy have killed at least one policeman and wounded dozens more in the northwest of Pakistan, officials said. 

The first improvised explosive device (IED) planted on a roadside exploded as a police patrol passed in Mathra, a neighbourhood on the southern outskirts of Peshawar. 

The second blast came 20 minutes later as police and rescuers were trying to help casualties. 

Hospital official Zulfiqar Ali Babakhel confirmed that one dead and ten wounded – three policemen and seven civilians – were brought to hospital.

Around 4.5kg of explosive material was used in the bombs, police said. 

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. The Pakistan Taliban regularly target military and civilian installations as part of a conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.

Earlier this year, Bacha Khan University – also in northwest Pakistan – came under attack by the Tehreek-e-Taliban group (TTP), which killed 21 students and teachers.