Secrecy surrounds multiple explosions, gunfire attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Lakki Marwat (Pakistan), April 28 (SocialNews.XYZ) Multiple attacks, suspected to be terror incidents, were reported from across different parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan on Thurs-day night, but there was no official word from military or security agencies regarding the incidents, or the number of casualties, media reports said.

A powerful explosion, followed by several blasts and heavy gunfire, rocked Lakki Marwat city on Thursday night, official sources said, the Dawn reported.

Sources said the blast took place near the Government Postgraduate College, which houses security forces and a military camp, Dawn reported.

Residents said that after the first explosion, several other blasts were also heard, followed by heavy gunfire, which partially damaged houses in the settled area.

People came out of their homes after the first blast shook the area, but subsequent explosions and gunfire drove them back indoors, Dawn reported.

Citing preliminary reports, sources said militants had attacked a military compound late in the night. "It was a bomb and gun attack," they said, adding that troops retaliated and a fierce gun battle continued for about an hour.

The management of the district headquarters hospital called doctors and paramedics to duty to cope with any possible emergency.

Muhammad Ashfaq Khan, Lakki Marwat's district police officer, said that the exchange of fire stopped and no casualty had been reported.

The attack came after three militants, who had targeted a retired colonel in his guestroom, were killed on April 24 in a shootout with counterterrorism and police officers in the Paharakhel Thall village of Lakki Marwat.

CTD inspector, Javed Iqbal, who was wounded in the exchange of fire, later succumbed to wounds at a hospital in Bannu.

Meanwhile, a number of other incidents were also reported in the early hours of Friday; two in the Janikhel area of Bannu district and one in the Mir Kalam area of Tank district. However, neither police nor Inter-Services Public Relations offered any information, Dawn reported.

Source: IANS