• Two security personnel, as many policemen martyred; many injured as attacks on police stations in Punjab and KP repulsed
• Baka Khel operation leaves five suspects dead; three killed, two arrested in Khyber; four gunned down in Sherani; four killed in Mianwali

KARACHI: At least sixteen terrorists were gunned down and four law enforcers, including two army men, were martyred in separate gun battles across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, and Punjab provinces on Saturday and Sunday.

In an intelligence-based operation in the Baka Khel area of Bannu district, five militants were killed while nine others sustained injuries. During the shootout, 29-year-old sepoy Iftikhar Hussain, a resident of Jhang, embraced martyrdom.

A statement by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said three terrorists were killed and two others were arrested by security forces in another operation, carried out in the Shagai area of district Khyber.

“During intense fire exchange, 25-year-old Captain Muhammad Zohaibuddin from district Lahore, who was leading his troops from the front, fought bravely, paid the ultimate sacrifice and embraced shahadat [martyrdom],” the military’s media wing said.

Meanwhile, local sources from district Khyber said that one of the attackers killed during the exchange of fire with security forces in Khyber, was involved in the killing of journalist Khalil Jibran in June this year.

Cop martyred

Meanwhile, a police official embraced martyrdom in a shootout with armed assailants who attacked a police station in the Darra Pezu town of Lakki Marwat district.

A police official said that a group of terrorists carried out a two-pronged midnight attack on a police station located in a congested area of the town. The attackers used automatic weapons and tried to breach the building, but the attack was repulsed.

“The policemen deplo­yed there effectively enga­ged the terrorists and the gun battle continued for nearly one hour,” the official said, adding that the fierce battle resulted in the martyrdom of Kirama­tullah, a policeman. The body was taken to police lines for funeral prayers following medico-legal formalities at the District Headquarters Hospital.

Four killed in Mianwali

Separately, the Mianwali police repulsed an attack on the Chapri police station in Punjab and killed four militants in the shootout.

A statement by the Punjab police said as many as 20 militants armed with rocket launchers and hand grenades att­acked the police station.

However, they were repulsed by the police after an hour of fighting. Two police officials sustained injuries during the attack.

After the attack was thwarted, the police combed the area and found four dead bodies, the statement added. Militants have carried out eight attacks on police in the district since 2009, all in Isakhel tehsil of the district.

ASI martyred

Separately, one policeman was martyred while two sustained injuries as unidentified men attac­ked a van of Paharpur police in Mar­dan Pul on Sunday night.

According to police, Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) Mir Ghulam Marwat embraced martyrdom while two other policemen, constables Rauf and Yousuf, were injured.

The deceased and injured were promptly shifted to Paharpur Tehsil Headquarters Hospital.

Due to the critical condition of the wounded, they were shifted to the District Headquarters Teaching Hospital in D.I. Khan.

In another incident, one policeman was injured as unidentified persons opened fire at a police check-post in Sur Dagar area of merged tribal tehsil Darazinda on Sunday night, police said.

Four killed in Sherani

Separately, four suspected terrorists were killed and several others were injured in a gun battle with security forces in the Sherani district on Sunday.

Officials said security forces launched an operation in the Mughal Kot area of Sherani on information about the presence of armed militants. In the subsequent shootout, four suspects were killed.

“The bodies of the militants who were killed in the operation were shifted to a nearby health facility,” officials said. Reportedly, the terrorists belonged to a banned outfit and hailed from Afghanistan.

Saleem Shahid in Quetta, Muhammad Irfan Mughal in D.I. Khan, Khurshid Anwar Khan in Mianwali, our correspondent in Lakki Marwat and the bureau in Peshawar also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, December 2nd, 2024