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Two explosions have rocked a counterterrorism facility in northwest Pakistan, killing at least 12 people and injuring more than 50 others, police said, Aljazeera reported.

Sharifullah Khan, a police official in Kabal, told Al Jazeera that at least 12 people died in the blasts on Monday at the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province’s Swat Valley while more than 50 were reported injured. He added that he doesn’t believe the blasts were caused by “terrorism”. The “explosions occurred after explosive material in the CTD building’s basement caught fire”, he said. The building complex also houses the Kabal district police station and headquarters of a reserve police force, but the main damage was done at the counterterrorism department building.

Provincial police chief Akhtar Hayat said there was an old ammunition store in the office, and police were probing whether that caused the explosions or if it was an attack, according to Aljazeera.

Two attacks on large police bases have been linked to the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) since the start of the year.

Most of those killed on Monday were police counterterrorism officers, Hayat said, adding that a woman and her child who were passing by the building were also killed. Bilal Faizi, spokesman for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s provincial rescue service, said the search for more wounded was still in its initial stages. The regional hospital administration said it received several wounded people, some of them in critical condition.

The Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) Office has given a 15-day deadline to the concerned bodies to remove electric, telephone and internet wires placed haphazardly along the streets. Issuing a press statement today, the local government said unorganized cables have their implications on the beauty of the town, causing obstructions in public movement and creating a risk for a fire. If the order was not implemented on time, the local government said it would remove them on its own. The KMC said that it is sensitive towards the possible risks from the unorganized cables and have already sat for talks with providers of electricity, telephone, internet and cable services at different times with the call to remove devices, but the problem remains as it is.  

Three persons died and two others sustained injuries in a tractor accident at Kalidamar in Manahari-3 of Hetauda on Monday. According to DSP Tek Bahadur Karki, spokesperson at the District Police Office, Makwanpur, the incident occurred after the tractor (Madhes Province 03-001 Ta 7188) turned turtle last night. The deceased have been identified as Prabin Praja (20), Raj Kumar Praja(24) and driver Birman Rumba (30) of Manahari-3. Similarly, Amrit Praja and Jokh Lal Praja of the same place were injured in the accident. They have been receiving treatment at Churehil Hospital, Hetauda.

Nepal reported 113 new Covid-19 cases on Monday. According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 766 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which 64 returned positive. Likewise, 1, 044 people underwent antigen tests, of which 49 tested positive. The Ministry said that no one died of the virus in the last 24 hours and 72 infected people recovered from the disease. As of today, there are 362 active cases in the country.