A policeman was martyred and at least six people including four police officers and two civilians were injured in a suicide blast in Islamabad’s 1-10/4 sector on Friday, police officials said. television footage showed the fiery wreckage of a vehicle with a large number of police personnel at the scene. According to Deputy Inspector General of Police Sohail Zafar Chattha, the police spotted a suspicious vehicle with a man and a woman aboard at 10:15am in the area.

“When the police stopped the vehicle, the couple came out of the car. The man, while being checked by the officers, went inside the vehicle on some pretext and then detonated himself,” he said in a media briefing at the crime scene. Chattha said a police officer of the Eagle Squad was martyred in the blast while four others were injured. “They have been moved to a nearby hospital.” Rescue and security services have reached the blast site.

The area has been cordoned off while an investigation into the incident has started with the help of CCTV cameras installed in the surrounding areas. Security across the Rawalpindi district has been put on high alert and strict monitoring of all entry and exit points of the twin cities has been implemented. Authorities have issued instructions to provide strict security for Friday prayers. Later in a tweet, the Islamabad police identified the slain officer as Head Constable Adeel Hussain. It said that terrorists had been targeting police for some time to demoralise law enforcement personnel.

In another tweet, the police said that diversions had been placed for both sides of traffic at Service Road East of Sector I-10/4. It advised citizens to use Service Road West of Sector I-10/4 as an alternate and stay away from the blast site. In a statement issued immediately after the blast, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari condemned the blast and expressed grief over the martyrdom of the policeman. He also paid tribute to the “brave men of Islamabad police”.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-INP