Targeting uniforms: Two policemen killed, 13 LEA personnel injured

An explosive planted underground killed one and injured another at an unmanned post in Regi.

SWABI/ DERA ISMAIL KHAN/ HANGU/ PESHAWAR:

In a series of attacks on the police and paramilitary officials across the province on Tuesday and Wednesday, two policemen were killed and 13 officials were injured.

A police constable was killed and another seriously injured in a blast at a check post in Regi, Peshawar on Tuesday morning.

The check post is left unmanned at night due to security concerns, explained a police official. When law enforcement personnel arrived for duty in the morning, a bomb exploded, killing Constable Johar Azam instantly. Head Constable Muhammad Iqbal sustained serious injuries.



Two bulletproof jackets and a police vehicle were damaged in the explosion.

Bomb disposal squad officials defused two more remote-controlled bombs, weighing around one kilogramme each, which had been buried underground near the check post.

An official of the local police station stated attacks on police officials and installations have increased in the past one month in the area, even though Regi was comparatively peaceful in the past.

Special branch official gunned down

Meanwhile, a police official of the special branch was shot dead by unidentified motorcyclists near the general bus stand in Swabi on Tuesday.

Swabi police SHO Izhar Shah said Amjad Ali left his home in Mohallah Moazzam Khel, Swabi at 11am for duty in Swat. He was shot dead when he reached the general bus stand.



Izhar said police officials rushed to the site and shifted Ali’s body to the hospital for an autopsy, while the accused managed to flee. The post-mortem report stated the deceased was shot six times.

His funeral prayers were offered at Police Lines Swabi. Later, he was buried in his native village with full honour. Amjad is survived by his wife and three children.

The police lodged an FIR against unidentified murderers and launched an investigation.

Roadside blasts

Four Frontier Corps (FC) officials were injured when their vehicle ran over a roadside landmine in Doaba, Hangu on Wednesday.

Doaba police official Islamuddin said the incident occurred around 6pm when an FC officials’ convoy was en route to Tora Warhi from Hangu. One of their vehicles ran over a landmine which subsequently exploded, injuring four officials. The blast totalled the vehicle.

The injured were taken to Combined Military Hospital in Thal; one of them identified as Usman was said to be in critical condition.

Islamuddin explained as he and other police officials returned from the blast site towards Doaba police station, two improvised explosive devices planted along the way exploded near their vehicle. The van was destroyed, however, the police personnel managed to remain unhurt.

Cases against both incidents were filed against unidentified militants.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, a remote-controlled bomb was detonated near a police van in Gara Guldad, Kulachi tehsil of DI Khan, injuring eight police officials, also on Tuesday.

According to a local police official, the van was on its way to Rori, when the bomb exploded near Gara Guldad. SHO Imran Kundi and seven other police personnel were injured, and the van was destroyed.

The injured were immediately shifted to District Headquarters Hospital, where they are now said to be out of danger.

Soon after the blast, the police opened fire at a suspect nearby, who managed to escape in the bushes, shared the official. He said 15 to 20 kilogrammes of explosives were used in the blast.

So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The late Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf MPA Israrullah Gandapur was also targeted, unsuccessfully, in the same area of Gara Guldad in 2013 – the perpetrators had used a remote-controlled devise.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 16^th, 2014.