Two cops martyred in twin K-P attacks

At least two police personnel were martyred and 26 people, including 22 policemen, injured in separate terrorist attacks in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa's Bannu and Lower Dir districts on Wednesday, while search and clearance operations in the affected areas continued amid heightened security.

In Bannu district, terrorists attacked the Miryan police station using an explosives-laden vehicle, injuring six policemen and four civilians. A heavy exchange of fire between the attackers and police continued for several hours after the blast.

District Police Officer Captain (retd) Muhammad Furqan Bilal confirmed the attack, saying the terrorists attempted to ram the explosives-laden vehicle into the police station, triggering a powerful explosion before engaging security personnel in an intense gun battle.

According to Muhammad Nauman, the spokesperson for the District Headquarters Hospital in Bannu, six injured police personnel and four wounded civilians were shifted to the hospital. He said that all doctors, nurses and paramedical staff were called in to provide emergency medical treatment to the injured.

Police sources said security was further tightened following the attack, while large contingents of police, security forces and other law-enforcement agencies reached the scene. Members of the police peace committee also arrived, while search and clearance operations were launched to trace the attackers.

The sources said the terrorists had blown up a previously damaged bridge on the road leading to the police station before launching the assault in an apparent attempt to hinder the arrival of reinforcements and rescue teams.

Eyewitnesses said the explosion was heard several kilometres away and damaged the Miryan police station building as well as nearby residential houses. Local residents joined rescue efforts, helping pull the injured from the debris and shifting them to hospital.

The banned outfit Ittehad-ul-Mujahideen claimed responsibility for the attack, alleging that a vehicle carrying two-and-a-half tonnes of explosives had been driven into the police station. Police had neither confirmed nor denied the claim by the time this report was filed.

In a separate incident in Lower Dir, two police personnel were martyred and 16 others injured during a fierce gun battle with terrorists at Haidaray Top, located on the border of the Laram Valley and Khal areas, according to official sources.

Sources said law-enforcement agencies were conducting a search-and-strike operation in the mountainous areas of Haidaray Top and Kurram after receiving reports about the presence of terrorists when the attackers opened fire on the police.

The exchange of fire continued for several hours before subsiding after nightfall. The injured were shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital in Timergara. They included Bakht Badar, Amir Muhammad, Rehanullah, Naseeb Khan, Miftahuddin, Izzatullah, Mehboob Ali, Assistant Sub-Inspector Asif Khan, Shahab Khan, Razi Muhammad, Habibul Hassan, Jawadullah, Nawab, Luqman Bahadur, and Muhammad Nadeem.

Local residents said the terrorists also set three police vehicles on fire during the clash. They added the vehicles had been parked at one location as there was no road in the rugged mountainous terrain. Sources said it was not immediately clear whether the terrorists had suffered any casualties in the retaliatory action.

Search and clearance operations were continuing in both districts at the time of the latest reports, while security remained on high alert. No official statement had been issued by police regarding the Lower Dir incident.

(WITH INPUT FROM OUR TIMERGARA CORRESPONDENT)