A roadside bomb hit a convoy of foreign diplomats visiting northwest Pakistan on Sunday, killing a police officer in their security detail, police said. Swat district police officer Zahidullah Khan said the diplomats were visiting the Swat Valley area at the invitation of the local chamber of commerce to showcase it as a potential tourist destination. "The squad that was leading the convoy was hit by a roadside bomb," he said.
Another four police officers were wounded, Khan said.
Swat Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Muhammad Ali Khan told Dawn.com that delegations from Indonesia, Portugal, Kazakhstan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Turkmenistan, Vietnam, Iran, Russia, and Tajikistan were a part of the convoy. “As a result of the blast, Constable Burhan has embraced martyrdom, while three other policemen, including Sub-Inspector Sar Zameen, Constable Amanullah, and Constable Habib Gul, have sustained injuries,” Khan said.
No one has so far claimed responsibility for the attack, which was condemned by Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The bomb exploded as the convoy was en route to a hill station and ski resort called Malam Jabba, police and government officials said.
All the nearly dozen diplomats were safe and were heading back to Islamabad, police said. "All the ambassadors remained safe in the attack and had been shifted to a safe place before their departure to Islamabad," Deputy Inspector General of police Mohammad Ali Gandapur told Reuters.
A Pakistani foreign office statement said the diplomats had returned safely to Islamabad, without giving details of their nationalities. "Such acts will not deter Pakistan from its commitment towards the fight against terrorism," it said.
Pakistani counter-terrorist forces maintain a strong presence in the Swat valley, which has long been a hotbed of Islamist militant insurgency. The militants have stepped up their attacks since late 2022 after breaking a ceasefire with the government.
In 2012, Islamist militants shot and wounded Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai in the valley. Soldiers and police cordoned off the area after the bombing and started a search operation, a senior security official told Reuters, adding that a curfew has been imposed in the area.
(With inputs from agency)
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