BAJAUR (MNN); Four police personnel were martyred and two others sustained serious injuries after unidentified gunmen opened fire on a patrolling unit in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bajaur district on Wednesday evening.
Khar Police Station House Officer Gul Zada said the attackers targeted the Ababeel Squad, a specialised patrolling force, at the time of Iftar near the Nawai Kallay area. The squad was carrying out routine patrol duties when it came under sudden attack, resulting in the deaths of four officers at the scene and serious injuries to two others.
Bajaur police spokesperson Israr Khan said the personnel were returning to the Bajaur police lines from Inayat Kallay bazaar as their duty hours were ending when they were ambushed. He identified the martyred officers as Yar Zada, Dawood Khan, Imran Khan and Siraj Khan. The injured officials were named as Irshad Khan and Azizur Rehman.
The wounded policemen were immediately shifted to the district headquarters hospital in Khar for medical treatment.
Following the incident, senior police officials reached the site and launched a search operation to apprehend the assailants, who managed to flee after the attack.
The Bajaur incident occurred just a day after seven police personnel were martyred in two separate attacks across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, highlighting a recent surge in assaults on law enforcement.
On Tuesday, six law enforcement officials, including Deputy Superintendent of Police Asad Mehmood, were martyred in a terrorist attack on a police vehicle in Kohat district. The ambush took place near Shakardara Road while the team was transporting two individuals for a court appearance. A police officer stated that the DSP, an inspector and four constables were killed in the assault, and one of the detainees also lost his life. The attackers later set the vehicle ablaze.
In another incident, a constable was martyred when unidentified gunmen opened fire in Mughal Khel village of Wana tehsil in Lower South Waziristan.
Earlier on Monday, three personnel of the Federal Constabulary were martyred during a terrorist attack on rescue teams in Karak district. Last week, an explosive-laden vehicle targeted a checkpost in Bajaur, resulting in the martyrdom of 11 security personnel.
