Under fire: Two cops killed, two injured in Tank

Rockets fired, grenades hurled at vehicle; third assault on police force this month

DI KHAN: Two cops were killed and two were injured when a police vehicle came under attack late Wednesday night, a police official told The Express Tribune.

He said the mobile was en route to Daraban police station when, around 12am, unidentified men launched an assault on it near Kur Bridge area.

The assailants fired two rockets, threw hand grenades and sprayed the vehicles with bullets. Cops inside the police van responded and the crossfire continued for about an hour, the official added.

As a result, constable driver Azam and constable Muneer died on the spot while constables Abdul Sattar and Shah Jahan were injured. They were rushed to District Headquarters and Teaching Hospital DI Khan.

Following the incident, heavy contingents of police rushed to the site and cordoned the area off. A search operation was also launched but the culprits managed to flee unchallenged.

A body was also recovered from the site. Suspected to be one of the attackers, the deceased’s identity could not be ascertained till this report was filed. Daraban police registered a case against unidentified men and started an investigation.

A Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan’s splinter group claimed responsibility for the attack. Talking to the media from an unknown location, the militant group’s spokesperson said the assault was carried out to avenge the murder of their detained commander at the hands of the police.

Long-standing dispute

Daraban is situated close to FR DI Khan – the only tribal area punctuated by the DI Khan-Zhob Road. In recent times, the area has been the hotspot of covert attacks conducted by militants on security officials and the police. However, a long-standing dispute between the police and Shairani tribes of FR DI Khan has also led to skirmishes and ambush assaults. The tribespeople maintain police has no jurisdiction in the FR. DI Khan DPO had earlier handed over lists of wanted people to tribal elders who not only refused to hand them over, but resorted to attacks on police convoys.

Eye of the storm

The ongoing month has seen multiple attacks on law-enforcement officials across the province. On May 20, DSP Bahadur Khan was gunned down in Gulbahar area of Peshawar.

The Daraban assault is the third on police officials in DI Khan Division in May alone. On May 12, four security officials were killed in an IED attack in Kulachi tehsil of DI Khan. Following the attack, a curfew was imposed in the tehsil and examinations at educational institutions were cancelled. Three days prior to the explosion, unidentified men barged into the house of cop Samar Gul and shot him and his mother Tehsila Bibi dead. The late policeman’s wife and a child were injured in the firing.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 29^th, 2015.