At least 14 security forces personnel injured in DI Khan bomb attack

A bomb attack in the Daraban tehsil of Dera Ismail Khan on Tuesday injured at least 14 security personnel.

The attack, said to be a remotely controlled improvised explosive device (IED), targeted a security forces convoy, said security sources.

The explosion heavily damaged a security forces vehicle. The injured were shifted to the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) D.I Khan.

The attack came at a time when security forces were battling terrorists who attacked Cadet College Wana in North Waziristan. While all teachers and students were reported on Tuesday evening to have been safely evacuated, a clearance operation remained underway to neutralise three terrorists who managed to infiltrate the building.

Security forces added that three of the personnel were said to be in critical condition.

Following the attack, a large contingent of police and security forces reached the incident site and cordoned off the area.

A search operation was launched to sanitise the area.

Earlier on Monday, security forces killed 20 terrorists in two separate intelligence-based operations (IBO) in KP — eight in North Waziristan and 12 in the Dara Adam Khel district. Another four were eliminated in Balochistan’s Kalat.

Pakistan has witnessed an uptick in terror activities in the past year, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, after TTP ended its ceasefire with the government in November 2022 and vowed to attack security forces, police, and law enforcement agencies’ personnel.

Attack on Bannu police station thwarted

Separately, KP police said they thwarted a late-night attack on the Ahmadzai Police Station in the Bannu district.

In a press release, KP Police said “miscreants attempted to attack the police station with small and big weapons” in the early hours of Tuesday, but it was foiled due to the cops’ timely response.

The statement added that the policemen present inside the building thwarted the attack through their “swift and effective action”, with multiple terrorists killed and injured. The bodies were taken by the attackers, the police said.

KP Inspector General (IG) Zulfiqar Hameed hailed the policemen for their response and asserted that the personnel were “ready and alert at all times to protect the public”.

IG Hameed also announced a cash reward and certificates of appreciation for the police team involved in repelling the attack.

Pictures shared by KP Police showed multiple kinds of weapons, including hand grenades, lying on the ground in the wake of the attack.

Some parts of the police station building were damaged.

Cop gunned down in Bannu; school torched in Lakki Marwat

Police on Tuesday night killed two terrorists in an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in the Mamakhel Havaid area of Bannu.

The operation was conducted by the police and counter-terrorism department (CTD) personnel following credible information about the presence of terrorists in the area.

In a press release, KP police’s director public relations said that the law enforcement personnel swung into action when they received authentic reports that terrorists had come to the area with an intention of executing their nefarious plan. He added that an intense exchange of fire took place when the law enforcers came across the terrorists.

“The gun battle lasted for half an hour, resulting in the elimination of two terrorists”, he claimed, adding the bodies of slain militants were found during a search operation launched soon after the gunfight.

He identified the killed terrorists as Fazlullah alias Faizullah alias Hanzala and Saifur Rehman and said that they were involved in target killing of policemen and attacks on police stations.

Among other acts, the two terrorists had killed a former police official and threw his body near the Naley Bridge in the Daud Shah area of Bannu district on Tuesday night.

A police official said that a group of terrorists had kidnapped former ASI Abid Khan from the same area within the limits of the cantonment police station two days ago.

Abid Khan, resident of Kurrum Garhi Mamandkhel, who also served as SHO in the Wazir subdivision, had been dismissed from service a week ago.

In another incident in Bannu, a policeman embraced martyrdom when unknown terrorists targeted him in the Walkhi Mammakhel area today.

The district police office’s (DPO) spokesman Bashir confirmed the incident, adding that it occurred within the limits of the Havaid police station.

He identified the deceased cop as Ilyas and said that he was posted to the investigation wing at the Saddar police station.

“Unknown gunmen opened fire on Constable Ilyas near his house when he was coming to the Saddar police station to join his duty,“ Bashir said, adding the assailants fled the place on their motorcycles.

He said the martyred cop’s body was taken to the District Headquarters Hospital to complete medico-legal formalities.

The spokesman added that after the targeted killing, a large police contingent reached the area and launched a search for the assailants.

In Lakki Marwat, terrorists torched the furniture in a government primary school in the Paharkhel Pacca area.

A police official said that the incident occurred at midnight within the limits of Ghaznikhel police station. He detailed that unidentified armed men entered the school building and set the furniture and other goods on fire.

The official said that the police had launched a search in the area to hunt down the perpetrators of the vandalism.