KOHAT/MIRANSHAH:
A new wave of terrorist violence is sweeping across Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, with police and other law enforcement officers increasingly coming under attack. This terrorist wave coincides with an escalation of tensions with Afghanistan, where the Russian Foreign Ministry warned on Tuesday that thousands of terrorists remained active.
In the latest violence, at least seven people, including a senior police officer, were killed in an ambush on a police patrol vehicle in Kohat district, while a police constable was killed in a gun attack in South Waziristan.
Tuesday’s attacks come a day after three federal police personnel were martyred and three rescuers injured in Karak district, where terrorists targeted two ambulances carrying injured law enforcers in an earlier quadcopter attack on an FC fort in the area.
An official said terrorists targeted a police van on Shakardara Road in Kohat, resulting in the martyrdom of DSP Asad Mahmood and six others. The attackers set the vehicle on fire and burned an injured police officer alive. Among the seven martyrs were five police officers, a suspect in custody and a civilian bystander. Among the injured were three police officers and a prisoner.
The martyred officers were identified as SDPO Lachi Asad Mahmood and reader Wahab Ali, who were burnt alive, while driver Mudassar, FC incharge Syed Amir Abbas, sub-inspector Anar Gul, inmate Yousaf Khan and passerby Samiullah were killed in the firing by the terrorists. The injured included DSP shooter Aqab Hussain, Mohib-ur-Rehman, Ahmed Abbas and a detainee identified as Zahoor.
According to the Kohat District Police Officer (DPO), the incident occurred when a police team was transporting a suspect into custody and was attacked in the suburban area along Shakardara Road. The injured were transferred to a nearby hospital, while security forces cordoned off the area and opened an investigation.
A police officer martyred in Wana
In another incident reported in Wana, the main town of Lower South Waziristan, a police constable was martyred after terrorists opened fire in Maghel Khel village area.
Lower South Waziristan District Police Officer (DPO) Muhammad Tahir Shah Wazir confirmed the targeted attack and identified the martyr as Constable Ataullah. The body was shifted to Wana District Hospital for legal formalities and post-mortem.
Police said security in the area had been increased following the attack and investigations were underway. DPO Wazir said efforts were on to identify and arrest those involved and those responsible would be brought to justice at all costs.
The incident comes at a time when the security situation has deteriorated over the past year in Lower South Waziristan, Upper South Waziristan and North Waziristan. According to local tribesmen, incidents of bomb blasts, targeted killings, kidnappings for ransom, extortion and attacks on police and security checkpoints have increased in these districts.
The deteriorating law and order situation has caused growing concern among the local population, with tribal members expressing fears over the safety of their lives and properties. Traders and members of the business community say business activities have also been affected due to the prevailing uncertainty.
Local elders demanded effective and lasting measures to restore lasting peace and stability to the region so that normal life can resume.
Condemnations pour in
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the ‘Fitna al Khwarij’ terrorist attack in Kohat.
The President and Prime Minister paid tribute to DSP Asad Mahmood and other staff who embraced martyrdom. They also expressed their condolences and sympathy to the bereaved families of martyr DSP and other martyrs.
The President said the martyred personnel had made enormous sacrifices for the motherland.
He further reiterated that the cancer of terrorism, carried out under foreign patronage, was being eradicated from the country, the media wing of the Presidential Secretariat said in a press release. “The menace of terrorism will be eradicated from the country,” a press release quoted the Prime Minister as saying.
