PESHAWAR: A remote-controlled bomb targeting police killed two people in northwest Pakistan yesterday, police said, hours after a blast near the home of a prominent provincial minister.
The device exploded near a police van carrying six officers outside the main police station in the town of Bannu, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, district police chief Nisar Ahmed Tanoli said.
Bannu is close to the lawless tribal area along the Afghan border where Taleban and other militants have hideouts.
An earlier blast in the town of Pabbi, just 60 meters from the home of Mian Iftikhar Hussain, the information minister for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, wounded six people.
In a third blast yesterday, a bomb disposal officer was killed on the outskirts of Peshawar while defusing a roadside bomb, officials said.
Pakistan is due to hold a general election some time in May but concerns about poll security have grown amid a series of attacks, particularly after a series of bombings targeting minority Shiite Muslims killed at least 250 people.
Tanoli said the Bannu device contained two kilograms of explosives and completely destroyed the police van.
“It was a remote-controlled bomb, planted on a motorbike parked outside the police station,” he said, adding that the blast killed two civilian passersby.
Police constable Mohammad Shiraz said: “We were six people in the van which was on routine patrol in the city. A sudden blast ripped through the van and all of us were wounded.” Doctor Mahmood Jan at Bannu’s hospital confirmed the death toll and said medics had received 14 wounded.
Hussain, a member of the province’s ruling Awami National Party (ANP) whose son was killed by Taleban militants, was 25 km away in Peshawar at the time of the blast near his home, police said.
“A bomb exploded near the house of information minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain and wounded three children and three passersby,” district police chief Mohammad Hussain said.
The police chief said the bomb was hidden in a pile of gravel being used to build a roadside drain, and television footage showed the blast had left a sizeable crater.
Hussain is well known in Pakistan for speaking out against militants. In July 2010 the Taleban shot dead his only son Mian Rashid Hussain, 28, as he traveled home.
The Tehreek-e-Taleban Pakistan have vowed to kill politicians from the secular ANP. In December a suicide bomber killed Hussain’s colleague Bashir Bilour, the number two minister in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, along with eight other people at a political meeting.
![]()
Pakistan bombs kill 3 after politician targeted
Pakistan bombs kill 3 after politician targeted
At least 5 killed after Mexican Navy plane on medical mission crashes in Texas
- The Monday afternoon crash killed at least five people and has set off a search in the waters off the Texas coast
- Mexico’s Navy said in a statement to The Associated Press that four of the people aboard were Navy officers and four were civilians
DALLAS: A small Mexican Navy plane transporting a young medical patient and seven others crashed Monday near Galveston, killing at least five people and setting off a search in waters along the Texas coast, officials said.
Four of the people aboard were Navy officers and four were civilians, including a child, Mexico’s Navy said in a statement to The Associated Press. Two of the passengers were from a nonprofit that provides aid to Mexican children with severe burns, including transports to a Galveston hospital.
US Coast Guard Petty Officer Luke Baker said at least five aboard had died but did not identify which passengers.
The cause of the crash is under investigation.
Mexico’s Marines said in a statement that it is sending “its deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in this tragic accident.”
The crash took place Monday afternoon in Galveston Bay near the base of the causeway that connects Galveston Island to the mainland. Emergency responders and search teams rushed to the scene near the popular beach destination along the Texas coast that is about 50 miles (80.5 kilometers) southeast of Houston.
Sky Decker, a professional yacht captain who lives about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from the crash site, said he jumped in his boat to see if he could help. He said he picked up two police officers who directed him through thick fog to a nearly completely submerged plane. Decker jumped in the water and found a badly injured woman trapped beneath chairs and other debris.
“I couldn’t believe. She had maybe 3 inches of air gap to breathe in,” he said. “And there was jet fuel in there mixed with the water, fumes real bad. She was really fighting for her life.”
He said he also pulled out a man sitting in front of her who had already died. He described both of them as dressed in civilian clothes.
Mexico’s Navy said the plane was helping with a medical mission in coordination with the Michou and Mau Foundation, which provides emergency transports to children with life-threatening burns to Shriners Children’s hospital in Galveston, according to the nonprofit’s website.
The foundation said in a post on social media, “We express our deepest solidarity with the families in light of these events. We share their grief with respect and compassion, honoring their memory and reaffirming our commitment to providing humane, sensitive, and dignified care to children with burns.”
The statement from Mexico’s Navy said the plane had an “accident” during its approach to Galveston but did not elaborate.
Teams from the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board have arrived at the scene of the crash, the Texas Department of Public Safety said on the social platform X.
A spokesperson from NTSB said they are “aware of this accident and are gathering information about it.” The Galveston County Sheriff’s Office said officials from its dive team, crime scene unit, drone unit and patrol were responding to the crash.
It’s not immediately clear if weather was a factor. The area has been experiencing foggy conditions over the past few days, according to Cameron Batiste, a National Weather Service meteorologist. He said that at about 2:30 p.m. Monday a fog came in that had about a half-mile visibility.
Four of the people aboard were Navy officers and four were civilians, including a child, Mexico’s Navy said in a statement to The Associated Press. Two of the passengers were from a nonprofit that provides aid to Mexican children with severe burns, including transports to a Galveston hospital.
US Coast Guard Petty Officer Luke Baker said at least five aboard had died but did not identify which passengers.
The cause of the crash is under investigation.
Mexico’s Marines said in a statement that it is sending “its deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in this tragic accident.”
The crash took place Monday afternoon in Galveston Bay near the base of the causeway that connects Galveston Island to the mainland. Emergency responders and search teams rushed to the scene near the popular beach destination along the Texas coast that is about 50 miles (80.5 kilometers) southeast of Houston.
Sky Decker, a professional yacht captain who lives about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from the crash site, said he jumped in his boat to see if he could help. He said he picked up two police officers who directed him through thick fog to a nearly completely submerged plane. Decker jumped in the water and found a badly injured woman trapped beneath chairs and other debris.
“I couldn’t believe. She had maybe 3 inches of air gap to breathe in,” he said. “And there was jet fuel in there mixed with the water, fumes real bad. She was really fighting for her life.”
He said he also pulled out a man sitting in front of her who had already died. He described both of them as dressed in civilian clothes.
Mexico’s Navy said the plane was helping with a medical mission in coordination with the Michou and Mau Foundation, which provides emergency transports to children with life-threatening burns to Shriners Children’s hospital in Galveston, according to the nonprofit’s website.
The foundation said in a post on social media, “We express our deepest solidarity with the families in light of these events. We share their grief with respect and compassion, honoring their memory and reaffirming our commitment to providing humane, sensitive, and dignified care to children with burns.”
The statement from Mexico’s Navy said the plane had an “accident” during its approach to Galveston but did not elaborate.
Teams from the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board have arrived at the scene of the crash, the Texas Department of Public Safety said on the social platform X.
A spokesperson from NTSB said they are “aware of this accident and are gathering information about it.” The Galveston County Sheriff’s Office said officials from its dive team, crime scene unit, drone unit and patrol were responding to the crash.
It’s not immediately clear if weather was a factor. The area has been experiencing foggy conditions over the past few days, according to Cameron Batiste, a National Weather Service meteorologist. He said that at about 2:30 p.m. Monday a fog came in that had about a half-mile visibility.
Latest updates
© 2025 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.