Six policemen were killed in an attack on a police armored vehicle in Tank, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Photo: Express
DERA ISMAIL KHAN:
Six policemen, including another police station official, were martyred on Monday when a police armored personnel carrier was hit by an improvised explosive device while it was traveling from Gomal to Tank in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, officials said.
The martyred officers were identified as SHO Ishaq Ahmed Khan, Sub-Inspector Sher Aslam Khan, Arshad Ali, Driver Abdul Majeed, Hazrat Ali and Ehsan Ullah. Tank is a district of Dera Ismail Khan, approximately 62 kilometers along the South Waziristan Highway.
In another attack on the same day, an IED targeted a police vehicle near Darah Tang in the jurisdiction of Saddar Police Station. Three policemen, including SHO Razaq Khan, were injured in the blast, police said.
The machine had been placed near the Darah Tang bridge. At the time of the incident, the Lakki Marwat district police officer was on a routine patrol at police stations and had to pass through the same route. The day before, unknown armed assailants had kidnapped a lawyer from the same location, according to authorities.
IED targeting police vehicle in Lakki Marwat Photo: Express
In another incident, local sources said that a policeman identified as Ismat, a resident of Sydowali, and his cousin were shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Kachi Kathgarh area.
The violence follows an overnight militant attack in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s Bannu district, where police repelled an assault on the Nala Kasho police station. The attack occurred around 12:30 a.m. when militants opened fire in several directions in the area of Domel police station. The police responded and prevented the attackers from advancing, forcing them to retreat.
Over the past 24 hours, the Anti-Terrorism Department carried out two intelligence operations in Peshawar and Khyber districts, killing six “highly wanted” militants linked to Fitna al-Khawarij, while several of their accomplices fled.
Police said the first operation was carried out on the outskirts of Peshawar in the Tipu Sano Bacha cemetery area near Zahir Ghari after confirmed intelligence reports. A CTD ambush team killed three militants on the spot, while others fled using nearby residential areas.
Read: CTD kills six terrorists in targeted operations in KP
The second operation took place in Jamrud in the Naqa Kalle area near the Shah Kas bypass road, where militants were reportedly planning a coordinated attack on the police. CTD personnel foiled the plan and killed three other militants.
Since the return to power of the Afghan Taliban in August 2021, terrorist attacks have increased sharply in Pakistan. Official figures show that more than 4,000 Pakistanis – including soldiers, police, officers and civilians – have been killed since then.
Security officials say the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan felt emboldened after the Taliban took power in Afghanistan and attempted to replicate a similar insurgency in Pakistan. Despite what officials describe as clear evidence, they say the Afghan Taliban have so far failed to take effective action against the group.
