Two more cops on polio duty martyred in Bannu

At least two policemen deployed for polio duty in the Teri Ram area of Bannu district were martyred while three others injured during a gunfight with unidentified armed men on Tuesday. One of the three attackers was killed, the other was taken into custody in an injured condition while the third one managed to escape.

According to details, the policemen were on polio duty within the remits of Meeryan police station when three unidentified attackers riding a motorcycle opened fire at them. In the retaliatory fire, one of the attackers was injured, while the other two hid in a house nearby.

Bannu Deputy Superintendent of Police Qasim Ali Khan and District Police Officer Syed Iftikhar Shah reached the spot along with a heavy contingent of police force, surrounded the area, and started a search operation. “The operation against the terrorists hiding in the house lasted for almost six-and-a-half hours,” the DSP said.

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Sources said police killed the terrorist hiding in the house while the other one managed to escape. “The house has also been demolished during the operation,” the sources added. DSP Qasim said that two police officers Fayazuddin and Sikandar Khan were martyred while three others injured during the operation.

He said that the martyred officials and the injured had been shifted to a local hospital. DPO Iftikhar said that a five-day anti-polio campaign had been formally launched in Bannu district, for which 2,722 police personnel had been deployed, besides all the DSPs, SHOs and police stations were on standby.

“I and Region Police Officer Qasim Ali Khan will also be on the road during the polio campaign and are inspecting the police teams at various BHUs.” He said, “Our police and polio teams were present at Turi Kala in the limits of Meeryan police station to administer anti-polio drops, when the incident took place.”

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He said that the condition of the injured policemen was said to be out of danger. DPO Iftikhar said that Bannu police was brave and honest and had fought bravely against terrorism in every difficult situation, vowing that the anti-polio campaign would continue.

This is the second attack in a row in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa as on Monday, six policemen were martyred while 26 others injured when an improvised explosive device exploded near their truck in Bajaur. The death toll from the attack on the police van rose to seven on Tuesday as the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) registered a first information report (FIR) against unidentified assailants.

Five policemen had died on the spot while another one succumbed to injuries at a hospital in Peshawar. After the attack, which was claimed by the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, the anti-polio campaign was postponed in the area.

Sources said nine more wounded persons were being treated at the facility, of which three were in critical condition. They added that a case had been lodged at Bajaur’s CTD police station against unidentified culprits, adding that the funeral prayers of the slain cops were offered in their hometowns.