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At least three policemen were martyred and two others sustained injuries when unidentified gunmen opened fire on a police checkpost in Kargah Nala area of Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) early on Saturday, police said.
Five or six militants attacked the Kargah Police Checkpost in Joot area, some 40 kilometres from Gilgit, at around 5am, Superintendent of Police (SP) Gilgit Tanvirul Hassan told DawnNewsTV.
Twelve police personnel were present at the checkpost at the time of the attack. Three foot constables (FC), namely Nawaz, Fazal and Wakeel were martyred in the firing. FC Zeshan and FC Zia were injured and were shifted to District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital Gilgit for medical attention.
According to SP Hassan, one of the assailants was killed, and another injured in retaliatory fire by the police. The rest of the attackers fled the scene after dropping their weapons.
According to Deputy Inspector General Gohar Nafees the assailant killed in the encounter, known as Commander Khalil, had a bounty of Rs3 million on his head. He was nominated in multiple cases related to terrorism, including the murder of nine foreign tourists in Nanga Parbat in 2013. He was also suspected of being involved in the murder of three security officials in Chilas in 2013.
A second attacker, identified as Commander Umar is injured, police say. Both the attackers belonged to Diamer.
Residence of deputy commissioner attacked
The attack came hours after unknown assailants opened fire on the residence of Diamer Deputy Commissioner Dildar Malik.
The bullets fired by the gunmen early on Saturday morning hit the outer walls of the DC's house, SP Diamer Mohammad Ajmal said, adding that it appeared that the assailants had opened fire from a distance. DC Malik, who was present in the house, remained safe in the incident.
SP Ajmal said police started a search operation to apprehend the assailants soon after the firing incident; however, they had managed to escape.
Meanwhile, a bulldozer parked at the site of a development project was set on fire in GB's Khambri village.
The latest violence in GB come days after suspected militants set fire to more than a dozen schools in Diamer. According to officials, 12 schools were partially damaged while two schools were completely torched using incendiary material.
Comments (8) Closed
First the mischief at our borders. Then the attacks on schools. And now this. We have an enemy that can stoop to the lowest level to hurt Pakistan. But the cowardly acts would achieve nothing. Pakistan stands united.
Combing operation is a must to bust all miscreants in GB...
Foreign forces trying to destabilize Pakistan. A sable and prospering Pakistan is indeed a sore sight for them.
Looks like militants have found sanctuaries in mountains of gilgit baltistan. There should be a military operation in the area before the militants become strong.
What are doing Law enforcement agencies there. since our arch rival India is not happy regarding CPEC in the region, so the entire region is sensitive and military presence may be enhanced manifold in order to thwart the enemy perilous designs against Pakistan internal security scenario... Drones may be pressed into service for surveillance of the entire region while CCTV cameras may also be put into service for tracking the terrorists and miscreants movements...
Zarbe Azb II please.
The security agencies and the law enforcement agencies should seriously consider what was lacking in their strategy that resulted in this kind of violence. The stability and peaceful environment of Gilgit Baltistan is of paramount importance for the tourism of the area, CPEC and the future of Pakistan.
send all afghanis refugees in there country, and seal the border