Unexpected strike: Police targeted, 3 officials killed
Militants attack checkpoint killing 2, another official dead in hand grenade explosion.
PESHAWAR:
Amid a continuing spate of violence targeting police officials and FC personnel, militant attacks left another three police personnel dead on Thursday.
A brazen 10am onslaught of almost 50 militants at the Speen Qabar checkpoint of the Badhaber police killed two constables.
“They really surprised the police by attacking in broad daylight, especially in an open area like Akka Khel, Khyber Agency,” said Israr, a commander of a local peace militia, adding that in the past almost all attacks had occurred in the cover of darkness.
The checkpoint, jointly manned by police and Frontier Constabulary (FC) officials, was attacked with rocket propelled grenades and machine-guns.
A police constable, Rehman Wali was killed while another, Shamusur Rehman, went missing. A search operation to find Rehman was carried immediately after the militants retreated as the police feared that the man had been abducted. An hour later, however, the constable was found dead in a stream.
Several suspects from the area were arrested and shifted to the police station for investigations.
Ironically, Speen Qabar check post is established on the border of Khyber Agency to stop movement of militants. It has been frequently attacked by militants in the past, killing several police and FC men in the past five years.
Meanwhile in another attack on police on Thursday evening, one policeman was killed and two others were critically injured when they were hit by a homemade hand grenade in Paharipura.
Bombs defused
Two bombs planted at the Arbab Sikandar Khan Khalil flyover on GT Road were defused on Thursday morning.
Both the devices had been planted under the flyover and were first spotted by a police constable, who immediately informed Gulbahar police. Police personnel surrounded the entire area and diverted traffic away from the busy GT Road.
The bomb disposal squad (BDS) was called, who defused both the devices using their newly acquired bomb defusing robots.
“One of the devices weighed 500 grammes, while the other one weighed 2.5 kilogrammes,” AIG Shafqat Malik told The Express Tribune.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 23rd, 2012.
Amid a continuing spate of violence targeting police officials and FC personnel, militant attacks left another three police personnel dead on Thursday.
A brazen 10am onslaught of almost 50 militants at the Speen Qabar checkpoint of the Badhaber police killed two constables.
“They really surprised the police by attacking in broad daylight, especially in an open area like Akka Khel, Khyber Agency,” said Israr, a commander of a local peace militia, adding that in the past almost all attacks had occurred in the cover of darkness.
The checkpoint, jointly manned by police and Frontier Constabulary (FC) officials, was attacked with rocket propelled grenades and machine-guns.
A police constable, Rehman Wali was killed while another, Shamusur Rehman, went missing. A search operation to find Rehman was carried immediately after the militants retreated as the police feared that the man had been abducted. An hour later, however, the constable was found dead in a stream.
Several suspects from the area were arrested and shifted to the police station for investigations.
Ironically, Speen Qabar check post is established on the border of Khyber Agency to stop movement of militants. It has been frequently attacked by militants in the past, killing several police and FC men in the past five years.
Meanwhile in another attack on police on Thursday evening, one policeman was killed and two others were critically injured when they were hit by a homemade hand grenade in Paharipura.
Bombs defused
Two bombs planted at the Arbab Sikandar Khan Khalil flyover on GT Road were defused on Thursday morning.
Both the devices had been planted under the flyover and were first spotted by a police constable, who immediately informed Gulbahar police. Police personnel surrounded the entire area and diverted traffic away from the busy GT Road.
The bomb disposal squad (BDS) was called, who defused both the devices using their newly acquired bomb defusing robots.
“One of the devices weighed 500 grammes, while the other one weighed 2.5 kilogrammes,” AIG Shafqat Malik told The Express Tribune.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 23rd, 2012.