One more cop falls on third day straight

SHO killed in targeted attack in N Waziristan – K-P’s third policeman to die in as many days

MIRANSHAH:

A Station House Officer (SHO) of police has been gunned down by unidentified people in the crowded Mir Ali bazaar in North Waziristan tribal district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) on Tuesday.

District Police Officer (DPO) Shafiullah Gandapur told The Express Tribune that unidentified miscreants opened fire at SHO Muhammad Shaifq when he was on his way to Shiwa police station.

He said that the attackers were masked men riding bikes, who managed to escape after committing the crime.

“He was attacked when he reached Mir Ali Chowk. Shafiq was a resident of Mada Khel, Spinwam tehsil,” he said, adding that soon after the attack a large contingent of police reached the area, cordoned it off and started a manhunt. “We will reach the attackers soon,” said the DPO.

Eyewitnesses said that the SHO received multiple bullets and he died on the spot. His body was sent for an autopsy to Mir Ali hospital and was later handed over to the family for burial.

Police believed that it was a targeted attack and SHO was the target of the terrorists.

This is the second attack of its kind in the restive North Waziristan district in one week. Three days ago an influential tribal elder Malik Shaibur Rehman and friend Malik Kherullah had been killed in a similar fashion.

Read More: Cop, three others killed in shootout

This is also the fourth attack on police in the past six days in the province. Policemen have been targeted in Peshawar, Dera Ismail Khan and now in North Waziristan.

In the past few months, police has been targeted in Lakki Marwat, Karak and Mardan districts. The police investigation teams linked the surge in the attacks at police to the recent events in Afghanistan.

“Afghan Taliban are rapidly making territorial gains in Afghanistan and this has motivated the Pakistani Taliban too to increase their sabotage activity in Pakistan,” said an official, adding that the US troops withdrawal has resulted in intensified terrorist attacks in K-P and, as in the past, police is the primary target.

On Tuesday, a high level meeting was held chaired by CM Mahmood Khan in which law and order situation in Malakand and other parts of K-P was discussed in depth.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 4^th, 2021.