Islamabad, July 17:
At least two policemen were killed and 26 people, including 22 police personnel, were injured after armed assailants carried out attacks in Bannu and Lower Dir districts of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, local media reported on Thursday.
Six police personnel and four people were injured after armed assailants attacked the Miryab police station on Wednesday using an explosives-laden vehicle. Following the blast, a heavy exchange of fire between the attackers and police for several hours, as reported by leading Pakistani daily The Express Tribune.
District Police Officer Captain (retd) Muhammad Furqan Bilal said that the armed assailants tried to ram the explosives-laden vehicle into the police station, triggering an explosion before engaging in a gun battle with security personnel. Following the blast, security was increased in the area, and search and clearance operations were launched to find the attackers.
According to the sources, the armed assailants, before the attack, blew up a previously damaged bridge on the road leading to the police station in an attempt to stop the arrival of police personnel and rescue teams.
The banned outfit Ittehad-ul-Mujahideen claimed responsibility for the attack, saying that a vehicle carrying two-and-a-half tonnes of explosives had been driven into the police station, The Express Tribune reported.
Meanwhile, two police personnel were killed and 16 others injured during a gun battle with armed assailants at Haidaray Top in Lower Dir, Dawn reported, citing official sources.
Sources said law enforcement agencies were carrying out a search and strike operation in Haidaray Top and Kurram after receiving reports about the presence of armed assailants when the attackers opened fire on the police. The exchange of fire occurred for several hours before subsiding after nightfall.
The incidents occurred amid a rise in attacks targeting law enforcement personnel in Pakistan, especially in the border provinces of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
On July 6, nine police personnel, including two Station House Officers (SHOs), were killed after armed assailants targeted a police post in Ziarat district of Balochistan province, officials said.
The armed men targeted the police post, and a gunfight erupted between police and armed assailants for some time. But the armed men managed to enter the premises, Pakistan’s another daily, Dawn, reported.
Ziarat Deputy Commissioner (DC) Abdul Qudoos Achakzai confirmed the number of casualties in the incident. He said that the whereabouts of five police personnel were still unknown, adding that additional police personnel have been dispatched to the site of the incident. He said that the operation was being conducted to find the missing police personnel.
On July 2, two police personnel, including an additional Station House Officer (SHO), were killed when armed assailants attacked a police patrol in Mohmand district of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
According to the police, the attack took place near the Warsak Lift Canal in the Machni area, where a police mobile patrol was attacked by armed assailants. The police said an additional SHO and elite force constable were killed in the attack, while the vehicle’s driver suffered injuries and was taken to Peshawar for treatment after receiving initial care, Dawn reported.
According to the police, Fitna al Khawarij terrorists, a term used by Pakistan for terrorists belonging to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), were behind the attack.