Two police constables, security guard martyred in Bannu attacks

Two police personnel and a security guard were martyred in separate firing incidents in Bannu on Monday, District Police Officer (DPO) Bannu Yasir Afridi confirmed to The Express Tribune.

According to Afridi, the first attack occurred outside a National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) office in the Baka Khel area, where armed gunmen opened fire on security staff. Two officers, Constable Rafiullah and security guard Gul Shah Noor, were killed at the scene.

"A heavy police contingent arrived shortly after the incident, but the attackers managed to flee. The officers’ bodies were transferred to the District Headquarters Hospital in Bannu for post-mortem examination," he said.

In a separate incident near the Miryan Kinger police station, another police constable, Sher Muhammad, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen. Authorities have launched a comprehensive search and checkpoint operation across the district in response to the attacks.

Condemning the incidents, K-P Governor Faisal Karim Kundi paid tribute to the victims, stating that “the people of the province share the grief of the martyrs’ families.”

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi also strongly condemned the attacks. “Guard Gul Shah Noor and Constable Rafiullah attained the great status of martyrdom while performing their duty,” he said, adding that “by sacrificing their lives in the line of duty, both personnel set a high example of bravery.”

Read: 37 terrorists killed as border attack foiled

On Friday, five people, including women and a child, were martyred and several others injured, including at least one police officer, in a suicide attack targeting the Domel Police Station in Bannu. Initial reports suggest that terrorists attempted to ram a car laden with approximately 1,000 to 1,500 kilograms of explosives into the wall of the Domel police station but, after failing to breach it, detonated explosives in a nearby civilian area.

Authorities said effective defensive measures prevented the attacker from breaching the police station. However, the explosion in the nearby civilian area resulted in civilian casualties.

In another attack on police last week, seven people, including three police personnel, were injured in a blast from an improvised explosive device (IED) in the Sarai Naurang area of Lakki Marwat in K-P, targeting a police vehicle near a vegetable market.

K-P has been battling terrorism since the United States' ouster from Afghanistan, with terrorists often crossing the border to target police convoys and vehicles, resulting in the deaths of several officials and personnel.

Read more: Pak questions experts over TTP presence in Afghanistan

Last month, at least seven police personnel, including the station house officer of Shadi Khel Police Station, were martyred in an IED explosion near a police mobile in Lakki Marwat. A week before that, two policemen were killed and 15 people, including five police personnel, were injured in an IED blast in the Rustam Bazaar area of Wana in Lower South Waziristan.

The province has witnessed a surge in terrorist attacks, accounting for the highest number of incidents in the country. Out of a total of 5,397 reported incidents last year, K-P recorded 3,811, followed by Balochistan with 1,557 incidents. Only 29 incidents were reported from the rest of the country. A total of 2,597 terrorists were killed during the year.