Six policemen and two army soldiers were martyrdom in separate terrorist attacks in Lakki Marwat and Bajaur districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Wednesday, a police spokesperson and the media wing of the military confirmed.
The six policemen embraced martyrdom when their vehicle came under attack from unknown motorcyclists near Wanda Shahabkhel area in the limits of the Dadiwala police station in Lakki Marwat district, police spokesperson Shahid Hameed confirmed.
According to the spokesperson, the police mobile from the Abbasa Khattak police station was headed towards Landiwah village for security duty at the weekly Wednesday bazaar there, when the assailants opened fire on it.
The martyred policemen were identified as Incharge Alam Deen, Driver Dil Jan, DFC Ahmed Nawaz, Head Constable Zubair, FRP Sepoy Ali Usman and Constable Mehmood Khan. The bodies were shifted to the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital in Sarai Naurang.
Local sources said that after killing the policemen, they took away the official police rifles with them. However, the police spokesperson neither confirmed nor denied that the government weapons had been taken away by the armed men.
Police reinforcement was immediately rushed to the scene. The police said that the area had been cordoned off and a search operation was under way to arrest the terrorists. So far, no group had claimed responsibility for the attack, but according to the police, the incident was a terrorist attack.
In a separate incident, meanwhile, two army soldiers were martyred in a gunfight with terrorists in Hilal Khel area of Bajaur district, according to a press release issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) in Rawalpindi.
“On the night of Nov 15 and Nov 16, fire exchange took place between security forces and terrorists in the general areas of Hilal Khel, Bajaur district,” the ISPR said. “During the intense exchange of fire one terrorist got killed. Weapons and ammunition were also recovered from the killed terrorist,” it added.
The ISPR identified the martyred soldiers as Naik Taj Muhammad, 33, from Kohat and Lance Naik Imtiaz Khan, 30, from Malakand. About the dead terrorist, it said that he had remained actively involved in terrorist activities against security forces. “Sanitisation of the area is being carried out.”
Meanwhile, Meanwhile, President Dr Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the terrorist attack in Lakki Marwat, and expressed grief and sorrow over the loss of precious lives. They said that the nation was proud of the sacrifices rendered by the security personnel for the country.
“The nation salutes the sons who sacrificed their lives for the motherland. Terrorists are enemies of Pakistan, entire Pakistan will be a lead wall against terrorism,” Shehbaz said, adding that the police had always played a “proud role as the vanguard against terrorism”.
Shehbaz urged the provincial government to give honours to the martyred policemen and announces the martyr packages for their families. President Alvi said the sacrifices rendered by the security personnel in the war on terrorism were unforgettable.
“The nation is proud of its martyrs and it will always remember their sacrifices,” the president said. He maintained that such “cowardly acts cannot shake the nation’s resolve against the menace of terrorism”.
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan took notice of the incident and asked the inspector general of police submit a report. “The incident is very tragic, the sacrifice of the martyrs will not go in vain,” the chief minister said in a statement.
(WITH INPUT FROM NEWS DESK)
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