• 12 militants killed in KP, Balochistan
• Premier, CM Gandapur condemn targeting of police officials

DERA ISMAIL KHAN / LAKKI MARWAT: Six security personnel, including a DSP, were martyred and 12 militants killed in separate incidents in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan on Friday night and Saturday.

In one incident, eight militants were killed in a gun battle with security forces during an intelligence-based operation conducted in the Kot Sultan area of Kulachi tehsil, Dera Ismail Khan district, on Friday, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement on Saturday.

It said security forces conducted the operation on the reported presence of militants in Kot Sultan. The militants had remained actively invo­lved in numerous activities against security forces and targeted killing of civilians, it added.

The security forces recovered wea­p­ons, ammunition and explosives from the dead militants, the ISPR said.

Meanwhile, two suspected militants were killed in an exchange of fire with security forces in North Waziristan district on Saturday. The ISPR said the security forces carried out an operation in the district where the forces effectively engaged the militants’ location and killed two of them in the gun battle.

Three cops martyred

In Lakki Marwat, a DSP and two cops were martyred and a constable was injured by armed miscreants in two incidents on Friday night, officials said.

They said DSP Gul Muhammad, along with other policemen, had set up a temporary checkpoint on the busy Peshawar-Karachi highway as part of the police’s plan to ensure safety of roads and highways before Eidul Fitr. Upon their return from the checkpoint, armed men opened fire on the police van near Manjiwala Chowk, leaving the DSP and Constable Naseem Gul dead. Constable Farooq Khan was wounded.

The deceased and injured cops were shifted to the Tehsil Hea­dquarters Hospital in the Serai Naurang town, where Constable Farooq was referred to a hospital in Peshawar due to his critical injuries.

In the second attack the same night, Constable Sanamat Khan was martyred when unknown assailants opened fire on him near his house in the Sra Darga area.

The cop was stationed in Miramshah town of North Waziristan district, and he had returned to the village on leave.

Funeral prayers for the martyred were held on Saturday.

PM Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the attack on policemen in Lakki Marwat. He said KP police had been acting like a bulwark against terrorism and the “cowardly terrorist activities” could not shake their determination.

KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur also denounced the militant attacks and directed the police authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice without delay.

IED blast

Moreover, a police official was martyred and another injured when a remote-controlled improvised explosive device went off in Mamund tehsil of Bajaur district on Saturday.

Residents and police officials said the explosion occurred near a police post in the Barkholozo area just before iftar, adding that Assistant Sub-Inspector Bakhat Zada was martyred on the spot while Constable Ihsanullah wounded.

CTD man killed

A head constable of the CTD was killed by unknown people near the Mian Lal police post in the Tank district on Saturday night.

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DPO Abdul Salam Khalid said assailants opened fire on the CTD official, Zahir Shah, martyring him on the spot.

Panjgur gun battle

Two suspected militants belonging to a banned outfit were killed in a gun battle with security forces in an intelligence-based operation conducted by security forces in Panjgur district of Balochistan on Saturday. The ISPR said the operation was conducted on information about the presence of militants between the night of April 5 and 6.

It identified the militants as Asad and Hasrat, adding that a cache of arms, ammunition and explosives was also recovered.

Levies man martyred

Separately, a Levies official was martyred in a landmine explosion in a wheat field in the Dera Bugti district, police said.

Muhammad Hussain was threshing wheat on his agricultural land in the Juri area when he stepped on the landmine and was injured in the ensuing blast.

He was rushed to the district hospital in Dera Bugti but succumbed to his injuries.

“The landmine was planted in the wheat field by unknown people,” the police said, adding that an investigation into the incident was underway.

Muhammad Irfan Mughal in Dera Ismail Khan, Ghulam Mursalin in Lakki Marwat, Umer Farooq in Peshawar, Anwarullah Khan in Bajaur and Saleem Shahid in Quetta contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, April 7th, 2024