PESHAWAR: In a surge of violent incidents across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, four individuals, including three police officers, were martyred, and three others were injured separate gun attacks early Sunday morning.
The first incident occurred at the Pajjagi police post in Peshawar, where militants targeted officers, killing one cop. In response, police engaged in a firefight, forcing the attackers to flee, and initiated a search operation in the area to track down the assailants.
Meanwhile, in Karak, militants launched coordinated attacks on Takht-e-Nasrati and Thana Khurram police station using heavy weaponry. District Police Officer (DPO) Shehbaz Ilahi confirmed that while the police successfully repelled both attacks, one officer was martyred in the in the first attack.
In Bannu, terrorists attempted to attack the Spinah Tangi police checkpoint. Security personnel responded with gunfire, forcing the attackers to flee. No casualties were reported.
Moreover, some militants attacked the Nasran police checkpoint in the jurisdiction of Gul Imam police station in Tank, injuring two policemen. Separately, a retired police officer came under a fatal gun attack in South Waziristan’s Dabkot area.
In a separate incident in Karak, militants attacked a Sui gas installation in Karak. One security guard was martyred, and another was injured. The attackers managed to flee after the assault.
DPO Ilahi later confirmed that firing at both stations and the gas office had ceased.
Earlier, police had reported attacks on six police stations and checkposts in Bannu, Lakki Marwat and Tank in the early hours of Saturday. Officials said no casualty was reported as the cops were alert and they repulsed all the attacks with the support of local people.
The attacks come in continuation of the increased militant activities in the country, especially in KP and Balochistan, the provinces that abut Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.
The two nations share a porous border spanning around 2,500 kilometres with several crossing points which hold significance as a key element of regional trade and relations between the people across both sides of the fence.
The country witnessed a sharp increase in terror attacks in January 2025, surging by 42% compared to the previous month, according to data released by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS), a think tank.
Islamabad has time again urged Kabul to not allow its territory to be used by terrorist groups to carry out attacks against Pakistan — vehemently denied by the Afghan Taliban-led administration.
The diplomatic effort is coupled with ongoing kinetic action against terrorists by security forces who continue to engage in operations, eliminating a number of militants and thwarting multiple infiltration attempts.
However, the issue of terrorism remains a key issue for Pakistan which has urged Afghanistan to prevent its soil from being used by groups such as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to carry out attacks inside the former’s territory.
Islamabad’s reservations have also been confirmed by a report submitted to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) by the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team which has revealed a nexus between Kabul and the TTP with the forming providing logistical, operational and financial support to the latter.
