KP Police. PHOTO: EXPRESS/FILE
PESHAWAR:
Two police officers and a security guard were killed in separate shootings in Bannu on Monday, authorities said. The Express PK Press Club.
The first attack occurred in front of an office of the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) in Baka Khel area, where gunmen opened fire on security personnel. Two police officers, constable Rafiullah and security guard Gul Shah Noor, were killed at the scene.
A large contingent of police arrived shortly after the incident, but the attackers managed to escape. The bodies of the officers were shifted to Bannu district headquarters hospital for post-mortem.
In another incident near Miryan Kinger police station, another police constable, Sher Muhammad, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen. Authorities launched a massive search and control operation across the district in response to the attacks.
Condemning the incidents, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi paid tribute to the victims, saying “the people of the province share the grief of the families of the martyrs.”
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi also strongly condemned the attacks. “Guard Gul Shah Noor and Constable Rafiullah have attained the great status of martyrdom in the line of duty,” he said, adding that “by sacrificing their lives in the line of duty, the two personnel have set an excellent example of bravery.”
Read: 37 terrorists killed as border attack foiled
On Friday, five people, including women and a child, were martyred and several others injured, including at least one police officer, in a suicide attack targeting the Domel police station in Bannu. Initial reports suggest that terrorists attempted to ram a car loaded with around 1,000 to 1,500 kilograms of explosives into the wall of the Domel police station but, after failing to breach it, detonated explosives in a nearby civilian area.
Authorities said effective defensive measures prevented the attacker from entering the police station. However, the explosion in the nearby civilian area caused civilian casualties.
In another attack on police last week, seven people, including three policemen, were injured in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast in Sarai Naurang area of Lakki Marwat in KP, targeting a police vehicle near a vegetable market.
The KP has been battling terrorism since the US ouster from Afghanistan, with terrorists often crossing the border to target police convoys and vehicles, leading to the deaths of several officials and personnel.
Learn more: Pak questions experts on TTP presence in Afghanistan
Last month, at least seven police officers, including the in-charge of Shadi Khel police station, were killed in an IED blast near a mobile police station in Lakki Marwat. A week earlier, two policemen were killed and 15 people, including five policemen, were injured in an IED blast in the Rustam Bazaar area of Wana, Lower South Waziristan.
The province has seen a surge in terrorist attacks, accounting for the highest number of incidents in the country. Of the total 5,397 incidents reported last year, KP recorded 3,811, followed by Balochistan with 1,557 incidents. Only 29 incidents were reported in the rest of the country. A total of 2,597 terrorists were killed during the year.
