Terrorist violence continues unabated in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, especially in the regions near the border with Afghanistan, where the TTP appears to have been given a free rein by the Taliban regime. Analysts fear that the impending TTP “spring offensive” could further exasperate violence in the volatile province.
The K-P police are bearing the brunt of the terror resurge as the TTP is increasingly targeting ill-equipped policemen. In the latest attack, a senior police official and his two guards were martyred in an ambush in the southern K-P district of Lakki Marwat.
Gunmen ambushed the vehicle of DSP Gul Muhammad Khan near Manjiwala Chowk on a link road of Indus Highway with automatic weapons late Friday night, a police spokesperson told The Express Tribune. DSP Gul Muhammad and his two guards named Naseem Gul and Salamat Khan were critically injured in the assault.
The spokesperson added that DSP Khan and Constable Naseem Gul succumbed to their injuries en route to the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital in Sarai Naurang, while Constable Salamat died while being driven to Peshawar for treatment of his life-threatening wounds.
The funeral for the martyred cops was held at Police Lines in Bannu. Bannu DPO Ziauddin, Lakki Marwat DPO Taimur Khan and other senior police and military officials attended the funeral. A police contingent presented a guard of honour to the martyrs as floral wreaths were laid on their coffins.
Read Two soldiers martyred, as many terrorists killed in Lakki Marwat
DSP Gul Muhammad was promoted in March 2024 and assumed his new assignment in Lakki Marwat last week. Prior to this appointment, he had served as SHO at different police stations across the district.
The security situation in K-P districts bordering Afghanistan remains extremely volatile. In Lakki Marwat, police have stopped patrolling after evening hours for over a year now for fear of TTP attacks.
In other violence, a police officer was martyred while another cop was injured in a roadside bomb blast in the Mamond tehsil of Bajaur district of K-P. “ASI Bakht Zada and Constable Ehsan were returning from Malik Shah Jehan Cricket Stadium when their vehicle hit an improvised explosive device,” SHO Zareef Khan said.
ASI Bakht Zada was martyred, while Constable Ehsan was critically injured in the blast, SHO Khan added. The injured was rushed to the District Headquarters Hospital for treatment.
The funeral of the slain ASI was held at the Police Line Bajaur. Commandant Bajaur Scouts Brigadier Mohsin Javaid, DPO Sajjad Ahmed, civil administration officials, and a large number of people attended the funeral. Later he was laid to rest with full official honours at his ancestral village.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur condemned the deadly attacks on police and offered condolences to the families of the martyrs.
He directed the top police officials to take all necessary steps for the immediate arrest of the perpetrators. “Targeting police officials who work towards public safety is sad and condemnable,” the chief minister said in a statement, adding that police had made huge sacrifices for law and order in the province.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also condemned the attack and offered condolences to the families of martyred police officials. “The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa police have always stood like a wall against terrorism. Cowardly acts of terrorists cannot shake our resolve,” he wrote in a post on microblogging site “X”.
(With additional reporting from our correspondent in Bajaur)
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