Late at night, a police station in the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa became the target of a terrorist attack, resulting in the tragic martyrdom of at least 10 policemen and injuries to six others, as reported by the police on Monday.
The assailants, armed with heavy weapons, launched a coordinated assault on the police station in Tehsil Daraban around 3 am. The attackers, employing grenades and intense gunfire, surrounded the police station from all directions. In response, the police retaliated, but the terrorists managed to escape under the cover of darkness.
The injured officers have been rushed to DHQ Hospital, and the authorities have cordoned off the area, initiating a search operation to apprehend the fleeing militants. A quick response force, supported by additional personnel, has been deployed to aid in the efforts.
The funeral prayers for the martyred police personnel will be held at the police line.
This incident follows a series of recent terror attacks in the region, including the martyrdom of three cops and two soldiers in Kohat, Miranshah, and Lakki Marwat. Additionally, an independent candidate for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, along with two colleagues, was killed during an election campaign in Waziristan.
The surge in attacks along the Pakistani-Afghan border since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021 has heightened tensions. Pakistan accuses Kabul of providing shelter to militants, such as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), enabling them to carry out attacks on Pakistani soil unchecked.
Statistics from the Department of Interior and Tribal Affairs KP indicate that areas like Peshawar, Khyber, Bajaur, Tank, Dera Ismail Khan, North Waziristan, and South Waziristan are most affected by terrorism. In the past year, KP witnessed 1,050 incidents of terrorism, with 419 in arranged districts and 631 in merged districts, according to documents from the Home and Tribal areas.
