Six policemen among 10 injured in car bomb at Bannu police station.
MIRANSHAH:
At least two policemen were martyred and 26 persons, 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 under heightened security.
In Bannu district, terrorists attacked Miryan police station using an explosive-laden vehicle, injuring six policemen and four civilians. A heavy exchange of fire between the attackers and the police continued for several hours after the explosion.
District Police Officer Captain (retd) Muhammad Furqan Bilal confirmed the attack and said the terrorists tried to ram the explosive-laden vehicle into the police station, triggering a powerful blast before engaging security personnel in an intense gun battle.
According to Muhammad Nauman, the spokesman for the District Headquarters Hospital in Bannu, six injured police officers and four injured civilians were shifted to the hospital. He said all doctors, nurses and paramedical staff were called to provide emergency medical treatment to the injured.
Police sources said security was further tightened after the attack, while large contingents of police, security forces and other law enforcement agencies reached the spot. Members of the Police Peace Committee also arrived as search and clearance operations were launched to trace the attackers.
The sources said the terrorists had blown up an earlier damaged bridge on the road leading to the police station before launching the attack in an apparent attempt to prevent the arrival of reinforcements and rescue teams.
Eyewitnesses said the explosion was heard several kilometers away and damaged the Miryan police station building as well as nearby residential houses. Local residents joined the rescue efforts and helped pull the injured out of the debris and move them to the hospital.
The banned outfit Ittehad-ul-Mujahideen claimed responsibility for the attack, claiming that a vehicle carrying two and a half tonnes of explosives had driven into the police station. Police had neither confirmed nor denied the allegation when this report was filed.
In a separate incident in Lower Dir, two policemen were martyred and 16 others injured during a fierce gunfight with terrorists at Haidaray Top, bordering Laram Valley and Khal areas, according to official sources.
Sources said law enforcement agencies conducted a search and raid operation in the Haidaray Top and Kurram hill ranges after receiving reports of the presence of terrorists when the attackers opened fire on the police.
The exchange of fire continued for several hours before it subsided after dark. 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 fire to three police vehicles during the clash. They added that the vehicles had been parked in one place 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 continued in both districts at the time of the latest reports, while security remained on high alert. No official statement had been issued by the police regarding the incident in Lower Dir.
(With input from our TIMERGARA CORRESPONDENT)
