TANK: At least five police personnel were martyred on Monday when a remote-controlled bomb exploded near an armoured police vehicle on Gomal Bazaar Road in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Tank district.
According to police, the armoured vehicle was returning from Gomal Police Station when it was targeted. Additional Station House Officer (SHO) Ishaq Khan was among those who embraced martyrdom. The powerful blast completely destroyed the vehicle.
Soon after the incident, law enforcement agencies rushed to the site, cordoned off the area, and launched an investigation to determine those responsible for the attack.
The deadly assault comes amid a surge in attacks on police personnel across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Just a week earlier, four policemen were martyred in separate firing incidents in Lakki Marwat and Bannu districts.
In Lakki Marwat’s Sarai Naurang area, unidentified motorcycle-riding assailants opened fire on traffic police personnel, martyring three officers, a police spokesperson said. In a separate incident in Bannu, a police constable, Rashid Khan, was shot dead in the Mandan area while he was on his way from home to report for duty at Mandan Police Station.
Meanwhile, a day earlier, KP police claimed to have foiled major terror bids by neutralising eight terrorists during joint operations conducted by police and the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) in different parts of the province.
According to the Central Police Office (CPO), two terrorists were killed in a joint operation by local police and CTD in Bannu. The slain militants were involved in attacks on the Sheikh Lindak and Fatah Khel police posts, as well as an assault on an under-construction rescue building. Weapons and mobile phones were recovered from them.
In another operation, CTD Khyber killed three terrorists near Shah Kas Bypass Road, successfully thwarting a major terrorist plot. Additionally, three more terrorists were neutralised during an operation in Zahir Garhi, a suburban area of Peshawar.
KP Inspector General of Police (IGP) Zulfiqar Hameed lauded the police and CTD personnel for their bravery and said targeted operations would continue to ensure peace and stability in the province.
Terrorist attacks have increased sharply in Pakistan, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, since 2021 following the change of regime in Afghanistan.
