Six police officers among 10 injured in car bomb attack at Bannu police station.
MIRANSHAH:
At least two policemen were killed and 26 people, including 22 policemen, injured in separate terrorist attacks in Bannu and Lower Dir districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on Wednesday, while search and clearing operations in the affected areas continued amid tight security.
In Bannu district, terrorists attacked Miryan police station using a vehicle loaded with explosives, injuring six police officers and four civilians. Violent exchanges of fire between the attackers and the police continued several hours after the explosion.
District Police Captain (retd.) Muhammad Furqan Bilal confirmed the attack, saying the terrorists attempted to ram the explosive-laden vehicle into the police station, triggering a powerful explosion before engaging security personnel in an intense gunfight.
According to Muhammad Nauman, spokesperson for the Bannu district headquarters hospital, six injured policemen and four injured civilians were transferred to the hospital. He said all doctors, nurses and paramedical staff were called in to provide emergency medical care to the injured.
Police sources said security was further tightened after the attack, as large contingents of police, security forces and other law enforcement officers arrived at the scene. Members of the police peace committee also arrived, while search and clearance operations were launched to find the attackers.
The sources said the terrorists blew up a previously damaged bridge on the road leading to the police station before launching the assault, apparently in an attempt to prevent the arrival of reinforcements and rescue teams.
Eyewitnesses said the explosion was heard several kilometers away and damaged the Miryan police station building and nearby residential houses. Local residents joined the rescue efforts, helping to pull the injured from the rubble and transport them to hospital.
The banned group Ittehad-ul-Mujahideen claimed responsibility for the attack, saying a vehicle carrying two and a half tonnes of explosives was driven into the police station. The police had neither confirmed nor denied this claim at the time of filing this report.
In another incident in Lower Dir, two policemen were killed and 16 others injured in a violent gunfight with terrorists in Haidaray Top, located on the border of Laram Valley and Khal areas, according to official sources.
Sources said law enforcement agencies were carrying out a search and strike operation in the mountainous areas of Haidaray Top and Kurram after receiving reports of the presence of terrorists when the attackers opened fire on the police.
The exchanges of fire continued for several hours before calming down as night fell. The injured were transferred to the hospital in the district capital of Timergara. They included Bakht Badar, Amir Muhammad, Rehanullah, Naseeb Khan, Miftahuddin, Izzatullah, Mehboob Ali, Assistant Sub-Inspector Asif Khan, Shahab Khan, Razi Muhammad, Habibul Hassan, Jawadullah, Nawab, Luqman Bahadur and Muhammad Nadeem.
Local residents said the terrorists also set fire to three police vehicles during the clashes. They added that the vehicles were parked in the same place as there was no road in the rugged mountainous terrain. Sources said it was not immediately clear whether the terrorists suffered any casualties in the retaliation.
Search and clearance operations were continuing in both districts at the time of the latest reports, while security services remained on high alert. No official statement has been released by police regarding the incident in Lower Dir.
(COURTESY OF OUR TIMERGARA CORRESPONDENT)
