Three more cops martyred as terrorists step up attack on K-P police

10 police officials have died in terrorist attacks since January 8

KOHAT/ LAKKI MARWAT:

Police remain in the crosshairs of terrorists in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa as three more cops gave up their lives in the line of duty on Wednesday heightening concerns about the security situation ahead of the election scheduled for next month.

The situation in K-P’s southern and erstwhile tribal districts remains particularly volatile as 10 police officials have been martyred there in a series of attacks over the last three days. Elsewhere in the restive province, Pakistan Army killed two terrorists in Lakki Marwat district in a gunfight that also left two servicemen martyred.

Officials confirmed that four people, including three policemen, were martyred in a late Tuesday night assault on a police post in Kohat. Around one dozen heavily armed terrorists opened fire and hurled hand grenades at the post situated near Lachi Toll Plaza on the Indus Highway.

Three cops identified as head constables Amjad and Junaid, and constable Waqar embraced martyrdom. The fourth fatality has been identified as Noor Muhammad, an employee of the toll plaza.

Taking advantage of the darkness of night, the terrorists fled the scene unchallenged. A police contingent reached the post and mounted a manhunt for the attackers after cordoning off the area.

The FIR of the deadly attack was registered at the Counter-Terrorism Department Kohat Division police station.

The funeral of the martyred cops was offered at the Police Lines which was attended by K-P IG Akhtar Hayat Khan, Kohat GOC Maj Gen Zulfiqar Bhatti, RPO Sher Akbar, Kohat Division Commissioner Abid Khan, DPO Farhan Khan and relatives of the martyrs.

The K-P IGP and officials of the local police, army and district administration presented a salute to the martyrs and laid a floral wreath on their coffins. Later, the bodies were dispatched to their ancestral villages for burial.

Read Dawar's convoy escapes attack in North Waziristan

Speaking on the occasion, the K-P police chief said that such cowardly acts would not lower the morale of his force, noting that the police were performing their duty more vigorously to maintain peace in the province.

It was the third deadly attack on the police during the last three days. Two policemen escorting polio vaccinators were martyred while three others injured in a gunfight with terrorists in the Teri Ram area of Bannu district. On January 8, five policemen were martyred and 27 people were injured in a blast near a police van in Mamund tehsil of Bajaur district.

Meanwhile the military’s media wing said that security forces and terrorists engaged in an exchange of fire in Lakki Marwat on Wednesday. Two terrorists were “sent to hell” during the exchange of fire as “own troops effectively engaged the terrorists’ location”, reads the ISPR statement.

The dead terrorists have been identified as Aftab, alias Malang, and Masood Shah. “These terrorists remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities against the security forces as well as target killings of innocent civilians. Weapons, ammunition and explosives were also recovered from them,” the ISPR added.

According to the military statement, two soldiers identified as Sepoy Muhammad Afzal and Sepoy Ibrar Hussain embraced martyrdom during the intense exchange of fire.

“A sanitisation operation is being carried out to eliminate any terrorists found in the area as the security forces of Pakistan are determined to wipe out the menace of terrorism from the country and such sacrifices of our brave soldiers further strengthen our resolve,” it added.