A police constable was martyred on Sunday after unidentified armed men opened fire near his home in the village of Kichi Qamar of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s Lakki Marwat district, according to Lakki Marwat District Police Officer (DPO) Nazir Khan.
According to DPO Nazir, “Constable Irfanullah, a resident of Kichi Kamar and serving with the Peshawar police, was shot dead when he came home on leave. His body was shifted to the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital in Sarai Naurang”.
A police spokesperson said the investigation is ongoing to determine the motive and identify those responsible.
Funeral prayers for a police constable killed in a shooting incident were held with full official honours at Police Lines in Lakki Marwat.
The ceremony was attended by Investigation Superintendent of Police Murad Khan, district administration officials, and a large number of police officers and personnel.
A smartly turned-out police contingent presented a guard of honour, while officers laid floral wreaths on the coffin and offered prayers for the departed.
In a separate incident on the same day, Additional Station House Officer (SHO) Mir Jaan Shah was injured after narrowly escaping a gun attack by terrorists in the Madina Mor area of Upper South Waziristan.
According to District Police Officer (DPO) Arshad Khan, the Additional SHO of Sarwekai police station was travelling back to duty after leave when his vehicle came under fire near Madina Mor in the Sarwekai area.
Police said six to seven armed men ambushed the officer and opened indiscriminate fire. The officer took position and returned fire, forcing the attackers to retreat and flee the scene.
Police added that the officer sustained minor injuries after two bullets grazed his hand and shoulder during the exchange of fire.
A heavy police contingent reached the site soon after the incident, cordoned off the area and shifted the injured officer to an army hospital, where his condition was reported to be stable and out of danger.
Security forces launched a large-scale search operation in the area to trace the assailants, police said.
Police said an investigation was launched to determine the motive behind the attack and identify the assailants, while security in the area was further tightened.
On Friday, one police constable was martyred, and two police personnel were injured when terrorists targeted a police vehicle in a rocket attack at Kangar Jan Bahadur in Bannu.
K-P has been battling terrorism since the United States’ ouster from Afghanistan, with terrorists often crossing the border to target police convoys and vehicles, resulting in the deaths of several officials and personnel.
On April 20, a police constable was martyred in the Akhundan forest civil camp area near the Bannu border during a Counter Terrorism Department intelligence-based operation.
Read: Police officer martyred, two injured in rocket attack on police vehicle in Bannu
On April 6, two police personnel and a security guard were martyred in separate firing incidents in Bannu. The first attack occurred outside a National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) office in the Baka Khel area, where gunmen opened fire on security staff. Two officers, Constable Rafiullah and security guard Gul Shah Noor, were killed at the scene.
In a separate incident near the Miryan Kinger police station, another police constable, Sher Muhammad, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen.
The province has witnessed a surge in terrorist attacks, accounting for the highest number of incidents in the country. Out of a total of 5,397 reported incidents last year, K-P recorded 3,811, followed by Balochistan with 1,557 incidents. Only 29 incidents were reported from the rest of the country. A total of 2,597 terrorists were killed during the year.Latest News, Breaking News & Top News Stories | The Express TribuneRamzan SeemabRead More