By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Five children were killed and 12 others injured in a tragic incident on Saturday when a mortar shell they were playing with exploded in a village in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, authorities said.
The explosion took place in Sorband village, located in the Lakki Marwat district, after the children discovered the mortar shell in a nearby field and brought it back to their community, mistaking it for a toy. “The shell exploded, resulting in the deaths of five children and leaving 12 others critically injured,” Aamir Khan, spokesperson for the Bannu region police, said. “The deceased and injured children have been transported to Khalifa Gul Nawaz hospital,” where the injured are receiving treatment in the emergency ward.
Bannu Regional Police Officer (RPO) Sajjad Khan visited the hospital to assess the situation, according to a statement from his office.
“He checked on their condition, encouraged them and met with hospital administration to review the provision of treatment, availability of medicines, and other medical facilities in detail,” the statement said. The Bomb Disposal Squad was deployed to the scene, where they collected evidence and launched an investigation. RPO Khan pledged that “all possible assistance would be provided to the affected families and those responsible would soon be brought to justice.”
The incident reflects a grim pattern in Pakistan, where children have lost their lives after encountering explosives they mistook for harmless objects. In October 2023, a child was killed and eight others injured when a hand grenade detonated in the Zarchain area of Balochistan’s Wadh city. Just a month earlier, in Sindh’s Kashmore district, nine people, including four children, died and a woman was injured when ordnance from a “rocket launcher” exploded inside a house.
On the same day as the Lakki Marwat incident, a separate tragedy unfolded in Balochistan’s Dera Bugti district, where at least two people were killed and another injured while attempting to defuse an improvised explosive device (IED). The blast occurred in the Ali Chakarani area when local tribesmen tried to dismantle the IED, which had been planted by unknown militants, without notifying authorities.
“A local shepherd informed the tribesmen on Saturday morning that a suspicious device had been planted in the area,” Nadir Ali, the in-charge of the paramilitary Levies station in the area, told reporters. “The slain tribesmen were attempting to defuse the device without informing the local Levies force and other law enforcement agencies.” No group has claimed responsibility for the IED.
Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest yet most impoverished province, has been gripped by a long-running insurgency that has grown more intense in recent months. Separatist militants have targeted security forces, government officials, and infrastructure, as well as individuals from other provinces whom they consider “outsiders.”
The government has responded with development initiatives focused on infrastructure, health, and education for the province’s roughly 15 million residents. Balochistan also hosts a deep seaport under construction by China, along with significant gold, copper, and coal reserves, and a lengthy coastline along the Arabian Sea.
Last month, an IED blast in Quetta, the provincial capital, killed an army officer and injured three civilians, including a child, when it struck a private vehicle in the western bypass area.
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