The death toll from a series of explosions caused by a fire in a munitions cache in a Pakistan police station rose to 16, police said yesterday.
The explosions leveled the specialist counterterrorism station in Kabal in the Swat Valley, in the northwestern region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa which neighbors Afghanistan.
Swat police said a short-circuit in a basement storing “grenades and other explosives” was the cause of the blasts.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“It was like hell let loose on me,” said Abbas Khan, 21, who had parked his car near the police station.
He said a thick cloud of dust and smoke engulfed the entire area, making it difficult to breathe.
The dead included police officers, five suspected terrorists being held for interrogation, and two brothers aged four and six who lived nearby, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police Inspector General Akhtar Hayat Gandapur said.
More than 50 people were being treated at various hospitals for their wounds.
Gandapur ruled out the possibility of any terrorist activity.
“We have not yet found any material or visual evidence suggesting a suicide attack, but we will look into all aspects during investigations,” he said.
The intense explosion rained pieces of munition on nearby houses and streets.
“Three hundred kilograms of explosives, including anti-tank and anti-personnel mines, artillery shells and mortars were stored in the basement in addition to improvised explosive devices and suicide vests, which had been recovered from the custody of terrorists,” said Khalid Sohail, a senior officer in the local counterterrorism department.
Funeral prayers for nine police officers were offered yesterday morning, with their coffins draped in the national flag.
Since the start of the year, two attacks on large police bases have been linked to the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
The TTP have long targeted law enforcement officials, who they accuse of conducting extrajudicial executions.
Pakistan has witnessed a dramatic uptick in attacks since the Taliban seized control of Kabul, focused on its border regions with Afghanistan, and Islamabad says offensives are being launched from Afghan soil.
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