KOHAT/MIRANSHAH:
A renewed wave of terrorist violence is sweeping Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, with police and other law enforcement agencies increasingly under attack. The wave of terror coincides with escalating tensions with Afghanistan, where the Russian Foreign Ministry warned on Tuesday that thousands of terrorists remain active.
In the latest violence, at least seven people, including a senior police officer, were killed in an ambush on a police patrol vehicle in Kohat district, while a police constable was killed in a gun attack in South Waziristan.
Tuesday’s attack came a day after three Federal Constabulary personnel were martyred and three rescuers injured in Karak district, where terrorists targeted two ambulances carrying law enforcers injured in an earlier quadcopter attack on an FC fort in the area.
An official said terrorists targeted a police van on Shakardara Road in Kohat, resulting in the martyrdom of DSP Asad Mahmood and six others. The attackers set fire to the vehicle and burned an injured police officer alive. Among the seven martyrs were five policemen, one under-trial suspect and one civilian bystander. Among the injured were three police officers and a prisoner.
The martyred officers were identified as SDPO Lachi Asad Mahmood and Reader Wahab Ali, who were burnt to death, while driver Mudassar, FC official Syed Amir Abbas, sub-inspector Anar Gul, arresting officer Yousaf Khan and passer-by Samiullah were killed in the terrorists’ firing. The injured included DSP gunman Aqab Hussain, Mohib-ur-Rehman, Ahmed Abbas and a detainee identified as Zahoor.
According to the Kohat District Police Officer (DPO), the incident occurred when a police team was transporting a suspect under custody and came under attack in the suburban area along Shakardara Road. The injured were shifted to a nearby hospital while security forces cordoned off the area and launched an investigation.
Policeman martyred in Wana
In a separate incident reported from Wana, the main town of Lower South Waziristan, a police constable was martyred after terrorists opened fire in Maghel Khel village area.
District Police Officer (DPO) Lower South Waziristan Muhammad Tahir Shah Wazir confirmed the targeted attack and identified the martyr as Constable Ataullah. The body was shifted to District Headquarters Hospital Wana for legal formalities and post-mortem.
Police said security in the area has been tightened following the attack and investigations were ongoing. DPO Wazir stated that efforts were on to identify and arrest those involved and that the responsible elements would be brought to justice at any cost.
The incident comes at a time when the security situation has worsened over the past year in Lower South Waziristan, Upper South Waziristan and North Waziristan. According to local tribals, incidents of bomb blasts, targeted killings, kidnapping for ransom, extortion and attacks on police and security checkpoints have increased in these districts.
The deteriorating law and order situation has sparked growing concern among the local population, with tribals expressing fear for the safety of their lives and property. Traders and members of the business community say commercial activities have also been adversely affected due to the prevailing uncertainty.
Local elders have called for effective and sustained measures to restore lasting peace and stability to the region so that normal life can resume.
Condemnations pour in
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the terrorist attack of ‘Fitna al Khwarij’ in Kohat.
The President and Prime Minister paid tribute to DSP Asad Mahmood and other personnel who embraced martyrdom. They also expressed condolences and sympathies with the bereaved families of the martyred DSP and other martyrs.
The President said that the martyred personnel had made great sacrifices for the motherland.
He further reiterated that the cancer of terrorism perpetrated under foreign patronage was eradicated from the country, the Media Wing of the Presidential Secretariat said in a press release. “The menace of terrorism will be eradicated from the country,” the PM Office Media Wing in a press release quoted the prime minister as saying.
