On April 7, at least five policemen, including an assistant sub-inspector (ASI), were injured in an explosion at the town of Shahbazkhel, in the Lakki Marwat district of Pakistan. 

The police representative of the district Qudratullah verified that the attack was launched by Fitna-al-Khawarij in the Bannu-DI Khan area of the Peshawar-Karachi Indus Highway. Fitna al Khawarij is a term used by the Pakistani state for militants linked to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Dawn reports.

The spokesperson also said, “terrorists had attached an improvised explosive device (IED) to a motorcycle parked by the side of the road, which then went off with a bang.” He also included that the target of the blast was a police patrol with the Shahbazkhel police station.

“The blast was felt all over the neighbourhood and left one assistant sub-inspector (ASI) and four constables injured as the police van they were patrolling in was also destroyed in the blast,” Qudratullah said. The wounded officers were taken to the District Headquarters Hospital to get medical attention.

After the attack, a huge police force arrived in the town, surrounded the town and started a search for the attackers, the spokesperson added.

The site was inspected by the Lakki Marwat District Police Officer, Nazir Khan, and the staff of the Counter-Terrorism Department and Bomb Disposal Squad. The DPO gave orders to lower officials to reinforce security and trace and arrest the masterminds of the terrorist attack.

The explosion is one of many that have affected police forces in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), in Bannu, Peshawar, Karak, Lakki Marwat and Bajaur. The Annual Security Report 2025 by the Centre of Research and Security Studies (CRSS) reported that violence in KP has surged dramatically, and the number of fatalities has been increasing between 1620 in 2024 and 2331 in 2025.