MINGORA: Unidentified gunmen killed Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Shangla Muhammad Ilyas and injured two of the police officer's' guards in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Swat district on Tuesday.

The assailants opened fire on the DSP's vehicle in Mingora's Sabzi Mandi area, where he was on a visit, leaving him and two of his guards seriously injured, police said. The gunmen fled the scene of the attack.

The DSP and his guards were taken to a nearby hospital where the senior police official was declared dead by doctors.

Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesperson Muhammad Khurasani claimed responsibility for the attack in an email sent to journalists but police and law enforcers are yet to identify the culprits.

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The attack comes as Operation Zarb-i-Azb is two months into its final phase. Inter-Services Public Relations claims at least 252 militants have been killed and 160 severely injured as security forces clear militancy-hit areas in Shawal Valley and North Waziristan Agency.

At least five major counter-terrorism military operations were carried out in Swat and Shangla from 2007 to 2009. Operations Rah-i-Haq I, II and III targeted militancy in both Swat and Shangla, Operation Rah-i-Rast took place in Swat, and Operation Black Thunderstorm took on militancy in Buner, Lower Dir and Shangla.

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