BAJAUR: A police officer was martyred after terrorists attacked a police post in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bajaur district, officials said on Friday.
The attack on the police post in Silai Pati area in the remote Barang tehsil, bordering Malakand district, occurred late on Thursday night.
Mansoor Khan, a spokesperson for the district police, while confirming the attack, told Dawn that a group of Fitna al-Khawarij terrorists targeted the Silai Pati police post, prompting the personnel to retaliate bravely and courageously.
Fitna al Khawarij is a term the state uses for terrorists belonging to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan.
The official said that the police official embraced martyrdom after putting up a brave resistance.
He added that the attackers fled after an effective response by the personnel deployed at the post.
Later, funeral prayers for the martyred cop were held at the Police Lines in Khar, which were attended by Deputy Commissioner Adnan Farid Afridi, DPO Khan Zeb Mohmand and elders of the area.
A large number of police officials and political and social activists also attended the funeral prayers before the body was dispatched to his native area in Barang tehsil for burial.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
On Thursday, Bajaur district administration banned pillion riding for 10 days by invoking Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), owing to the security situation. The notification said the measure was taken in view of reports from intelligence agencies and the police department.
Earlier, the authorities imposed a 15-day ban on pillion riding in Bajaur on September 5, citing the security situation back then as well.
KP has been witnessing terrorist attacks and security challenges for a long time. According to a recent report from the Centre for Research and Security Studies, Pakistan recorded a sharp 83 per cent increase in violence-linked fatalities during the third quarter of 2026, reversing a declining trend reported in the first and second quarters as terrorism and counter-terrorism deaths surged nationwide.
Balochistan and KP remained the epicentres of violence, jointly accounting for 98pc of all fatalities during the period. Balochistan recorded 829 deaths, nearly 59pc of the national total, while KP reported 556 fatalities, accounting for more than 39pc.
