Three cops, civilian martyred in terrorist attack on Kohat check post

Four people including three police personnel were martyred in a terrorist attack on Lachi Toll Plaza and a check post on Indus Highway in Kohat, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Wednesday.

Police said that more than 10 terrorists attacked the police station with heavy weapons at night.

Three police officials including Lance Head Constable Junaid, Lance Head Constable Amjad, and Constable Waqar were martyred. Noor Muhammad, a resident of Lucky Marwat, was also martyred in the attack.

According to police, the retaliatory fire by the law enforcers made the militants retreat.

A large contingent of police reached the venue soon after the attack.

The dead bodies of the martyred officers were shifted to the hospital.

Security personnel are conducting a search operation in the area.

Police said that the attackers were hiding near the hilly area and they would be eliminated soon.

On Monday, five police officials were martyred and 27 people were injured in a blast near a police van in the Mamund tehsil of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bajaur district, officials said.

“A police truck transporting around 25 policemen for anti-polio campaign duties was targeted by an IED (improvised explosive device),” Anwarul Haq, a senior government official in Bajaur district, told AFP.

Dr Wazir Khan Safi, the medical superintendent at Khar District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ), said that 12 of the wounded were being treated at the hospital while 10 others seriously injured had been referred to a Peshawar medical facility.

In another incident on Monday, a Pakistan Army soldier was martyred in an exchange of fire with terrorists in KP’s North Waziristan, the military’s media affairs wing said.

“Own troops effectively engaged terrorists’ location and apprehended one terrorist in injured condition,” the Inter Service Public Relations said in a press release.

It said Havaldar Muhammad Zahir, a 41-year-old resident of Mardan, embraced martyrdom. “Sanitisation operation is being carried out to eliminate any terrorists found in the area,” the ISPR stated.

It added that the security forces of Pakistan were determined to eliminate the menace of terrorism and “such sacrifices of our brave soldiers further strengthen our resolve”.

There has been a sharp increase in the terrorist attacks on security personnel in Pakistan following the end of a ceasefire with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Taliban Taliban in Nov 2022.

Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of sheltering the TTP operatives who are using Afghan soil to launch attacks on Pakistan security officials. Islamabad is also evicting Afghan nationals living illegally in Pakistan.

A nine-member delegation led by JUI Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman is currently on Afghanistan visit to discuss the issue with the Kabul government officials.

Reporter Qaisar Bukhari