Roadside blast in northwest Pakistan leaves 19 injured

A roadside bomb struck a police van, injuring at least 19 people, including five policemen, in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province on Wednesday.

According to police officials, the van was targeted when it was on routine patrolling of Dera Ismail Khan, a gateway to Pakistan’s troubled tribal region bordering Afghanistan.

Two women and a child were also among 19 those injured, police said.

The bomb which had been planted near the circular road, General Bus stand, weighed between five to seven kilogrammes, police officials were quoted as saying by Express Tribune.

All injured were shifted to a nearby hospital. Police reached the site and collected evidence after cordoning off the area.

Violence has declined in recent years following a series of military offensives in the tribal areas as well as concerted efforts to block the militants? sources of funding.  But the remnants of militant groups are still able to carry out periodic bloody attacks, particularly in the northwest.