ISLAMABAD — At least 15 security personnel have been killed in attacks spread across Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province in the past 48 hours, sending the law enforcement agencies into a tizzy in a region plagued by unrest.
The deadliest attack occurred in province’s Dera Ismail (DI) Khan, where at least 10 Frontier Constabulary (FC) personnel were killed and three got injured in a targeted attack at a security checkpoint in Darazinda town in the wee hours of Friday. According to Pakistan’s Interior Ministry, six personnel hailed from South Waziristan while four belonged to Karak city.
“We pay our tribute to the martyrs of the FC (Frontier Corps). The sacrifices only strengthen the forces’ determination to eradicate terrorism,” read a statement issued by the ministry.
Banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) took responsibility for the attack, terming it as a revenge for the military operation where at least nine of its members were killed by the security forces in Bajaur district.
In a separate incident, at least three security personnel were killed in another targeted attack by armed gunmen in Bannu and Lakki Marwat districts of the province on Friday.
In another terror attack, attackers opened fire on a police patrol vehicle, killing the Station House Officer (SHO) Rehman and Constable Mir Syed in Bannu’s Jani Khel area.
In Lakki Marwat district of KP, an under-training soldier GC (Gentleman Cadet) Arifullah, aged 19, was killed by attackers inside a local mosque during evening prayers.
Pakistan’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) stated that the cadet was visiting his village on leave. Two other men, who were also injured during the attack, were shifted to a local hospital for treatment.
“The heinous and cowardly attack on a mosque reflected the true ideology of the militants,” the ISPR stated.
In South Waziristan, a soldier was martyred in an attack on a security checkpoint while two police officials were critically injured in an explosion in the Wana area of KP.
In Khyber district, a police officer was gunned down by the attackers, who opened fire inside the Malagori police station on Friday morning.
The situation in Pakistan has turned severe as the number of attacks on security personnel have increased dramatically over the last few months.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, in particular, has witnessed well-coordinated attacks on multiple security checkpoints, convoys and officials.
Pakistan maintains that the proscribed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is getting full support from the Taliban government in Afghanistan to conduct terror attacks on its soil. — (IANS)