LAKKI MARWAT: Two personnel of the police’s elite force were martyred after terrorists attacked a patrol van near Darra Pezu town of Lakki Marwat on Monday.

Three cops were also injured in the attack, according to officials.

A team from Shaheed Haibat Ali Khan police station was on routine patrolling duty in the area when it came under attack, the officials said.

Unidentified attackers, riding motorcycles, opened fire on the mobile van near the telephone exchange building on the outskirts of Pezu city.

Team came under attack during routine patrol, officials say

Constables Basheer Rehman and Saif Ali were martyred in the attack while Inamullah, Asmatullah and driver Imdadullah were injured, the officials added. The assailants managed to flee after the attack.

The martyred and injured cops were moved to the Tajazai district headquarters hospital.

A heavy police contingent, led by District Police Officer Tariq Habib, cordoned off the area and launched a search operation to arrest the attackers.

Lakki Marwat district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s southern region has witnessed a surge in terrorist attacks and worsening law and order situation since the talks with the outlawed TTP broke down last year.

According to KP police data, seven cops have been martyred in eight terrorist attacks on police in the district from January to June 2023.

Last week, a Levies force soldier was martyred by unknown miscreants in Lakki Marwat city.

In March, Deputy Superintendent of Police Iqbal Momand and three constables were martyred when an armoured personnel carrier they were travelling in was targeted with a roadside bomb.

The blast had occurred as the police personnel were en route to Saddar police station where their colleagues were engaged in a fight with terrorists.

A month before the attack, police and security forces claimed to have killed 12 terrorists in an intelligence-based operation in the Chuharkhel area.

The terrorists were affiliated with TTP’s Azharuddin group and were moving from Lakki Marwat to Tank district, the police had said after the shootout.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2023